ONE of the community’s most respected doctors and Tamworth’s first physician has passed away and was farewelled at a private celebration of his life yesterday.
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Family, friends and medical colleagues gathered at the Longyard Golf Course’s “19th hole” to remember Doug Harbison, who passed away on December 28 at Tamara Private Hospital.
Dr Harbison was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2005 for his outstanding commitment to rural medicine, but it was his humble and tenacious spirit, rather than the accolades, that resonated with his family and locals.
He moved with his wife Iva to Tamworth in 1959, becoming the first specialist physician in the North West.
His passion for treating the whole person, rather than just parts in isolation, led him to the country, where he could practise a range of medical disciplines.
He would regularly finish a day’s work in Tamworth, only to drive for hours to Moree, Inverell or Wee Waa to treat rural patients.
He played a crucial role in heading up cardiovascular and respiratory investigations in the region, but was also instrumental in establishing other specialist units at the hospital.
In 1962, Dr Harbison made a diagnosis of scurvy in Aboriginal infants in Moree and discovered an intravenous vitamin C drip, rather than oral medicine, could heal them rapidly.
He is fondly remembered for changing the lives of local diabetics for the better – he was behind a push to establish the first diabetes outpatients clinic at Tamworth hospital in 1979, and he tirelessly lobbied to raise $370,000 for a purpose-built diabetes centre in 1996.
He was willing to “get up and perform a song and dance” in many bids to raise money for local health facilities. He was a life member of the Tamworth Lions Club and had served as its president, secretary and treasurer, and was the editor of the bulletin for 16 years, a post he fulfilled right up until the month before he died.
Despite all his medical and community work, he always had time to read to his children before bed and tutor his grandchildren in their studies, instilling in them his own great love of Shakespeare, opera and classical music.
He is survived by his wife Iva – they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in November – as well as his children Vicki, Anne, Julie and Paul, his grandchildren Fiona, Alex, Ross, Emma, Beth, Nick, Chris, Rob, Kate, Andrew, Jemma, Toby and Will, and his great-grandchild, Sophie.
