Lakefield Herald Special Report

Fourth doctor joins team at Lakefield Medical Centre

by Anita Locke

Dr. Brendan Hughes is the latest family physician to sign on as a member of the local Family Health Team.

He joins Lakefield doctors Senior, Bailey and Arthur who will be moving into the new Lakefield Primary Health Care Centre when construction is complete.

Dr. Hughes, his wife Cory, and children Graiden, Devon, Madilyn and Kendall, live in Bridgenorth. The family moved from Calgary this past Spring.

He has been practicing medicine since 1999. He got into family medicine as a result of his experiences growing up in a small Newfoundland community and seeing the need for family physicians in remote towns.

He is currently a hospitalist at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. He spent five years working as a hospitalist in Calgary prior to PRHC. He also served as a military doctor at Petawawa and Borden, and spent six months overseas in Bosnia.

Although the family’s experience in Calgary was a good one, they wanted to live in a smaller community that still provided all the amenities.

“We want to bring our kids up where there is a real community feel,” he says.

Family ties are very important to the Hughes’ family, and are one of the reasons they moved to Ontario.

Cory’s family lives in various locations in the province, and Dr. Hughes’ family is in Newfoundland. Cory is a registered Respiratory Therapist.

When they had made the decision to leave Calgary, Dr. Hughes and his wife began looking for family practice opportunities.

That research eventually led them to the Lakefield Community Medical Support Foundation and Dr. Bruce Gibson, a Lakefield dentist and Chair of the Lakefield Primary Health Care Centre campaign.

Dr. Gibson describes his first encounter with Dr. Hughes. His nurse said, “There’s a doctor on the phone, and he would like to set up a practice here. Can you take the call?”

“We had a wonderful chat. I explained how we got to this point and about the project.”

Meetings were arranged with J. Murray Jones, Karl Moher and other Foundation members. Dr. Hughes was shown drawings for the new building and was thrilled to be working in such a state-of-the-art facility.

“Dr. Hughes was very impressed with the project – and the community as well. Even at our first meeting we all felt this was the right mix. With his roots in Newfoundland, he understands about small yet thriving communities,” Dr. Gibson said.

“This is another ‘good news’ story,” Dr. Gibson added, “And, when it all falls together like this, it certainly makes it all worthwhile.”

Renovations are currently underway at the Sherin Building in Lakefield where Dr. Hughes will be operating his medical practice beginning sometime in January. “I’m anxious to get started,” he says.

“Over the past several years, there have been a lot of positive changes in the way the province (Ontario) looks at family medicine. The Patient Enrolled Model has changed the perspective on family medicine. The Family Health Teams are embraced by physicians and they seem very happy with the changes.

“In family medicine, we are able to make a difference. Patients and their families are very grateful and we are able to get to know our patients personally,” he says.

He enjoys working with palliative patients, and also expects to be doing some nursing home care at Extendicare Lakefield. Another of his goals is to do “lots of disease prevention and health promotion.”

He expects to take on 1,500 patients covering a broad range of ages. His roster priority will be for people residing in the townships of Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield and Douro-Dummer.

Family practice will also allow him and his wife to enjoy a better work/home life balance as days can be structured.

If you are a local resident who does not have a family doctor, you can have your name put on a waiting list through the Office of Primary Care. Call (705) 740-8020.

You will be asked to provide the following information: full names of family members, full mailing address, date of birth of all family members, a list of health issues (ie. Diabetes, high cholesterol and a list of all ongoing medications that are taken).

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