'Dr. Paul' remembered for bringing joy, dignity to young B.C. patients

A pediatric otolaryngologist (ENT) at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver is being remembered by patients, families and colleagues for his thoughtful and warm bedside manner.

Dr. Paul Moxham died on Jan. 13, after living with brain cancer for 16 months, according to his obituary. The 54-year-old is survived by his wife and two daughters. He had worked at B.C. Children's Hospital for 23 years.

Moxham played an important role in young patients' health but also had a reputation for brightening their day and treating them and their parents with the utmost respect.

Dorothy Gazzola met Moxham when he replaced a retiring physician who had been caring for her daughter Faith, who lives with Down syndrome and autism.

Gazzola said it's usually stressful for a child with a disability to get accustomed to a new doctor, but that wasn't the case with Dr. Moxham.

"He had such a beautiful way of just putting you at ease. And particularly my daughter," Gazzola told On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko. "A child that's very perceptive of people and what their intentions are."

B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation shared a video where Moxham described trying to care for each of his patients the same way he would for his own wife and daughters.

Gazzola said that was her experience with Moxham and her daughter.

"He was respectful of Faith, even though Faith is not easily able to communicate her needs," she said. "He made sure he understood her. He would take the time — it came naturally to him."

"And that was what she needed."

Dr. Paul

Joanna Munro, a senior producer with the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation, knew Moxham for almost 20 years and said he was known to most people as "Dr. Paul," due to his incredible energy and warmth.

"[He] really put the patient at the centre of care ... and found ways to communicate with them, regardless of how they could communicate," she said.

Munro said several touching tributes have poured in for Moxham online and on social media, many expressing the sentiment that he was a one-of-a-kind doctor and human being.

Magic tricks

Munro recalled how Dr. Paul would bring his own Harry Potter-style wand to the hospital to perform magic on some of his patients.

She said he would often get other clinic staff involved in the act, secretly turning on lights in a hospital room or surreptitiously pressing a button to lift a chair one of his patients was sitting on, while waving the wand around. 

"That would help him do his job really well," said Munro. "But at the same time make it comfortable for the patient and the parent, and build that real sense of trust."

Munro said Moxham will be remembered for sharing stories that inspired people to contribute to the children's hospital and his work that affected the lives of many young people.

She said he left behind a lasting legacy among hospital staff as well, training the next generation of pediatricians in B.C. to care for children the same way he did.