Dr. Christy Sutherland, Co-host
Dr. Christy Sutherland is a family doctor and diplomat of the American Board of Addiction Medicine who works in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side providing care to Canada’s most vulnerable population. Dr. Sutherland is the Physician Education Lead with the BCCSU and the Medical Director of the Portland Hotel Society where she leads a team of physicians and nurses who are embedded in low barrier, harm reduction projects. She received her MD at Dalhousie University and completed her Family Medicine Residency at UBC in 2010. Dr. Sutherland was recognized as the 2018 British Columbia Family Physician of the Year, as well as the recipient of a City of Vancouver Award for Excellence in 2019.
David P. Ball, Co-host
David P. Ball is a multimedia journalist with 20 years’ experience in print, radio and digital news and investigative reporting. He has won awards from the Jack Webster Foundation and Canadian Association of Journalists, and an honourable mention from the Mindset Award for workplace mental health reporting. He has written extensively about B.C.’s opioid emergency, mental health, and community-led drug policy advocacy. Previously with the Star Vancouver, he co-hosts The Pulse show on Vancouver Co-op Radio focused on the Downtown Eastside. He has been published in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, The Tyee, and Agence France Presse.
Polly Leger, Producer
Polly Leger is a journalist who has has won awards for breaking news, climate reporting, and her podcast work. Before switching to creating narrative audio, she spent nearly a decade working in daily news for CBC Radio shows across the country. She is based in Vancouver.
