ATCMA President Dr. Chris Vallee Message- Honouring a TCM Pioneer: Dr. Bill Hardman Retires After 30+ Years of Healing and Advocacy

After more than three decades of dedicated service, Dr. William (Bill) Hardman, Dr. TCM, is retiring from the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

With deep knowledge rooted in ancient wisdom and a compassionate heart, Dr. Hardman has spent over 30 years improving the lives of countless patients through acupuncture, herbal medicine, and holistic care.

With the same passion he had for helping his patients, he had the same passion for advocacy work as a member of many professional boards, including time spent as president of the QATCMA, the precursor to ATCMA. Dr. Hardman was an original board member for the ATCMA and his work was instrumental in creating our bylaws.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hardman has been a trusted healer, teacher, and mentor—upholding the timeless principles of balance, harmony, and natural wellness. His gentle approach and unwavering commitment to patient well-being have earned the respect of colleagues and the gratitude of the community.

I asked Bill to write a few words to share with ATCMA members about his journey as a TCM Doctor in British Columbia. As a true advocate for the profession, he shares the story of how we need to continue to work towards one voice for our profession. He offers a great reminder to all TCM professionals that in our journey as healers we also need to put energy into our how our profession is run. TCM brothers and sisters working together to move us forward into the BC medical system with the wisdom of the older and the energy of young.  Thank You Bill!

As Dr. Hardman enters this new chapter, we celebrate a remarkable legacy of healing, advocacy, and inspiration. May retirement bring peace, joy, and continued vitality—just as Bill has given to so many.

Dr. Chris Vallee, Dr. TCM
President, ATCMA

Memories of a 34 year TCM Career

My first introduction to the effectiveness of acupuncture was in 1982, when my ex-wife Sandy went to the local Port Hardy acupuncturist, Ricardo Serrano, to stop smoking. Many references discuss acupuncture, but observing its effectiveness firsthand—how inserting fine needles into the body can impact physiology—is intriguing, to say the least.

Ever since a traumatic brain injury that I experienced in 1975 as the result of losing an argument with an airplane propellor, I had been on a quest for natural healing. I quickly learned that Western Medicine, which had saved my life thanks to a gifted neurosurgeon, had few answers to questions that required thinking outside of the box. And thus began my search for more holistic solutions.

A lecture on TCM by Dr. Henri Lu in Victoria, was my “aha” moment, and I decided to leave my position with Transport Canada Air Traffic Services and enroll in the Canadian College of Chinese Studies in Victoria in 1989.

In that era, the only true association was the  Acupuncture Association of BC (AABC). One of their representatives came to the college and made us aware of their efforts to have acupuncture recognized by the BC government, and to enlist our support. In the College clinic and through public events we managed to collect 8,000 signatures on a petition to the BC Health Minister. Imagine Minister Peter Dueck’s surprise when he stepped into his office on Monday morning to find 325 pages of petitions stacked up on his fax machine (pre-internet days). Given BC’s penchant for voting parties out, rather than in, every change of government made it seem like we were starting over with every new minister. A quarter of a century later, we accomplished our goal and became registered with the newly mandated College of TCM (CTCMA).

The mandate of the college was to protect the public; the recognition of our profession as a bona fide health profession was up to the association. New problem: the first question asked by the various government departments was, "Does your association represent all of the profession?" At that time, there were approximately 23 “associations” in the province. As president of the AABC following Dr. Mary Watterson, I recognized that our best way forward was amalgamation of the associations, and I initiated the merger of the AABC with the QATCMA. An  invitation was extended to the TCMA to also merge with us for the good of the profession. The first attempt failed due to a lack of a road map, amongst other historical factors.

With the support of a TCM-friendly senator and the federal Minister of Finance, a huge step forward was our exemption from GST. That gave us a foundation to work from in our negotiations with MSP, ICBC, WorkSafe BC, and other government agencies. Also, instrumental was the development of specialties like Sport Acupuncture, Point Injection Therapy and the amazing effectiveness of neuro acupuncture.

Working Together

Communication increased between the two largest associations in BC- the QATCMA and the TCMA.  An ad hoc committee was formed by the two executives, and that morphed into the One Voice committee, with balanced representation from both associations and with financial commitment from both sides. There is no “I” in team, but  I had the distinct honour of chairing this working committee. Consultation with  a lawyer who specialized in working with non-profit associations helped us draw up a map of what needed to be accomplished. It took close to 18 months of courtship and regular development meetings before the blueprint for the ATCMA became a reality. And then the real work began. There are too many individuals that deserve credit for our current status to name here, but hopefully our new practitioners will have some appreciation for the fact that our recognition in the medical field in this province did not suddenly appear – it was the result of thousands of hours of work by dedicated volunteers who helped get us here.

Of course none of this could have occurred without the support of the thousands of patients who had faith in the power of TCM’s ancient and proven healing ability.

William Hardman, Dr TCM (Ret.)