OTTAWA — Thunder Bay doctor Thomas Dignan will be invested into the Order of Canada in a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Thursday.
Governor General Julie Payette will preside at the ceremony.
Dignan's appointment as a member of the order was first announced last December.
According to Indspire.ca, in 1981 he became the first Indigenous graduate of McMaster University's faculty of medicine, and has spent more than 30 years as a pioneer in Aboriginal health care
A Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, Dignan started in health care as a nurse before becoming a primary care physician.
He began his career In Thunder Bay as the city's first emergency-educated doctor.
As a licensed pilot and fly-in physician he continued to serve remote northern communities with the Anishnawbe-Mushkiki Aboriginal Health Access Centre and as a medical officer with the First Nations and Inuit Health branch of Health Canada.
A statement from the office of the governor general said Dignan has dedicated his life to the well-being of Indigenous communities and has been "a pioneer, leader and mentor in the advancement of patient care and professional standards, notably through his recognition of traditional knowledge as an integral part of clinical practice."
