Remembering Carl Moore as a passionate advocate for community-based primary care

Carl Moore, former chair of McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine, died on August 21, 2026, at the age of 94.

Originally a community-based family physician in the Hamilton area, Moore was chair of the Department of Family Medicine from 1975 to 1986. During his tenure, he worked to further develop family medicine as a recognized discipline and strengthened its role within the health care system.

Moore was instrumental in shaping McMaster’s clinical teaching unit network throughout Hamilton. Early in his term, he championed the creation of a family practice teaching unit at Hamilton General Hospital. He later led the development of the North End Community Health Centre and First Place, initiatives that expanded opportunities for community-based teaching and interdisciplinary care.

A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary, community-centred primary care, he understood that family medicine training should be rooted in the communities physicians serve. His leadership helped establish innovative models of care that influenced both McMaster and primary care across Ontario.

“For me, Carl epitomized the intersection between practice and academia. He was a natural leader and very highly regarded by family doctors in the community and specialists in the university”, says Cheryl Levitt, professor emeritus and chair of the Department of Family Medicine from 1996 to 2006.

“He was very helpful and supportive to me when I moved to McMaster. He had a deep understanding of the department’s role and challenges in the Faculty of Health Sciences and in the hospitals and community.”

Throughout his career, he was at the forefront of innovation in primary care, medical education, and health policy, taking on leadership roles at the provincial, national and international levels.

He was also among the pioneers of Ontario’s Health Service Organization (HSO) model, a capitation-based system of primary care remuneration that helped lay the foundation for the modern Family Health Organization (FHO) model used by many family physicians in Ontario today. Through his leadership, McMaster’s clinical teaching units became early adopters of this innovative approach to funding and delivering primary care.

In recognition of his contributions to primary care, the Department of Family Medicine established the Carl Moore Lecture Series. Each year, the lectureship explores timely and thought-provoking topics in primary care, reflecting Moore’s enduring commitment to innovation, education, and the advancement of family medicine. This year’s lecture will take place on Wednesday, October 28 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Registration details will be shared soon.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, October 11 from 2 to 5 p.m., at Dodsworth and Brown Funeral Home-Ancaster Chapel at 90 Garner Rd. E, Ancaster. See the obituary for more information.