Michael Audain

Michael Audain with one of the newest members of his Polygon team at a recent company picnic in Vancouver, British Columbia.

For starters, he's the chief executive officer of Polygon, a Vancouver-based housing development company that has built more than 15,000 homes since its founding in 1980. He also is a patron saint of the arts in British Columbia, currently serving as chair of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation and the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts. And he's a lifelong civilrights champion, who once was arrested and imprisoned for refusing to leave the black section of a busstation restaurant in Mississippi and who hosted the first meeting of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in his living room.

Last, but not least, he is a husband, a father and a grandfather.

He's on construction sites "in all weathers," he says, and his "work day" often extends into night, for a packed itinerary of arts and cultural activities and meetings in the business community.

"I'm 68 years old, and still very active," he says. "I feel as fit today as I did when I was in my 40s."

How does he do it?

Audain credits his general good health and stamina to his annual trips to the United States to take advantage of the Mayo Clinic Executive Health Program — typically a one-to two-day, one-stop medical evaluation that combines expertise and efficiency to meet the needs of busy executives.

Audain, who has been using the Mayo Clinic program in Scottsdale, Arizona, for about 10 years, says it is very different from the "perfunctory," seven-minute exams he'd been getting in Canada. "Our health service in Canada is greatly underfunded, so there is terrible stress and pressure on the staff," he says. "We have excellent doctors and nurses in Canada, but they don't really have the time to treat patients in the way that they used to, say, 20 years ago."

Dr. Robert Orford, chair of Mayo Clinic's Executive Health Program in Scottsdale and a Canadian himself, says a distinguishing characteristic of the program is the provision of these services in the context of a multispecialty group practice. Program components include a comprehensive history and physical, a standard series of tests and discussion of the results, including personalized lifestyle counseling, at the conclusion of the visit. Additional tests or consultations may be added when indicated.

Sugar-free

Audain says the program has encouraged and inspired him to make important lifestyle changes. He's dumped the sugar from his diet, lost weight and takes regular exercise, including swimming and hiking in the mountains behind his house with his wife and two Labrador retrievers. His family members also have benefited from the program, he says, including one whose previously misdiagnosed condition was caught in time for lifesaving surgery, and another whose chronic pain was finally diagnosed and relieved. One daughter, he says, who started smoking when she was 14, was able to stop smoking after a visit to Mayo Clinic when she was in her 30s. Audain also extends the Mayo Clinic service to his senior executives and their spouses, and recommends it to others worldwide, including, most recently, a business acquaintance in Hong Kong.

Orford confirms that executives have access to all of Mayo's medical, surgical and laboratory resources, and that if follow-up care is recommended, executives may schedule that at Mayo also. "My colleagues and I have developed great relationships with executive patients such as Mr. Audain over the years, and it's great to be able to care for the entire senior management team of a company as we do for Polygon," he says.

Says Audain: "I just find it very efficient — the way that we're handled down there. Having an appointment with a specialist the same day is absolutely unheard of in Canada."

Audain also praises the hospitality and cordiality of the Mayo Clinic staff. "As I move around the building doing my tests, I chat with the staff and find out what they do and how they're feeling about their work," he says. "I've always found a very friendly staff there and people who seem to be well-motivated."

"I'm a big advocate of the Mayo Clinic."