He then started in public health when he left a residency in Internal Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital in 1971 to set up the Pine Street Youth Clinic.
As the medical health officer for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, he was instrumental in implementing a number of important programs, particularly those involving youth, people with disabilities, individuals living with AIDS, combating drug addictions, and the initiative to ban smoking in the workplace.
[3] Dr. Blatherwick was adept at media relations and gained recognition for expressing independent, authoritative views on contentious health matters, including his activism during the AIDS pandemic.
In the mid-1980s, Premier Bill Vander Zalm publicly threatened to dismiss him – twice – due to his advocacy for the inclusion of condoms and sex education in schools.
[5] Insite, the first legal supervised safe injection site in North America, opened during his tenure.