St. Joe’s commemorates pioneering cancer surgeon in Hamilton

Tributes are pouring in for a pioneering cancer surgeon in Hamilton who passed away late last month.

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton says Dr. Anil Kapoor passed away on Feb. 28 after a short and courageous battle with an acute illness.

“His loss is deeply felt by the entire urologic and genitourinary cancer community coast to coast, as well as to those who worked with him here at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton through the years,” the health organization said in a release.

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Dr. Kapoor served the Hamilton community for more than two decades advancing care in kidney cancer and other genitourinary malignancies.

He was a long-time member of the department of surgery, and one of its key leaders in surgical innovation at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Dr. Kapoor was also the director of the Urologic Cancer Centre for Research and Innovation.

Colleagues are remembering him as a cancer surgeon, researcher, educator and friend.

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“There’s thousands of patients out there who have benefited from his skills. There’s dozens of residents who learned how to do laparoscopy and neurology through his teachings,” said Dr. Kevin Piercey, head of urology services at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

“We’ll all miss him. He was a light and we’ll miss that.”

In honour of Dr. Kapoor, all flags at each campus were lowered to half-mast Thursday for 48 hours.

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