Three new family physicians have established a group practice in Penetanguishene. WAVES Family Medicine is located at The Village Clinic, within the Georgian Village complex at 101 Thompson’s Rd.
Founded by Dr. Amanda Murdoch, Dr. Julie Caron, and Dr. Adrian Stacy, the new practice hopes to reduce the number of orphaned patients in the region, while offering person-centered focussed care.
“We really mesh well in terms of what we do in our practices, in our ethics, and our shared interest in serving various parts of the community,” explained Dr. Stacy. “When we met, everything seemed to click, and we decided to go into practice together. It all happened very quickly and here we are.”
“We will take a person centered, holistic, trauma informed approach to care,” concurred Dr. Caron. “We are respectful of patients as experts on their own bodies. And, as a group, we make a daily commitment to be actively anti-racist and community minded.”
Dr. Amanda Murdoch is originally from Hamilton, Ontario. She attended Queen’s University in Kingston for her medical degree, followed by a family medicine residency, with advanced rural skills, in Peterborough. With a keen interested in rural practice, she started her career in Sioux Lookout before selecting Penetanguishene as her permanent home with her husband Jonathan.
Dr. Murdoch speaks conversational French, and is planning to expand her French medical vocabulary.
Her practice will include seeing patients at the clinic, and following their care if admitted to Georgian Bay General Hospital. As well, she will continue to service the hospital as an emergency physician, and hospitalist. She has joined a group of physicians (Dr. Caron, Dr. Emily Queenan, and Dr. Colin Cochrane from Barrie) to create the Georgian Bay Palliative Care Team, and will provide Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) services, and care at the Tomkins House Hospice in Penetanguishene.
Dr. Adrian Stacy is also originally from the Hamilton region, but his family has always had a connection to North Simcoe as cottagers. He attended the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg for his medical degree, followed by a family medicine residency at Western University in London, Ontario. Dr. Stacy started his career as a staff physician in student health services at Western, while locuming periodically at Georgian Bay General Hospital.
Dr. Stacy, his wife Elisa, and two daughters made the move to Tiny Township in early 2020. He has been working as a hospitalist at GBGH, and will continue to support the hospital while building his practice. His medical offerings will include reproductive health, including PrEP and trans care. He is very comfortable in providing care in French.
“There are a number of unmet needs (in our community), and hopefully we will be able to fill some gaps,” said Dr. Stacy. “I speak French, and hope to be able to help the Francophone population. I will also be providing care in other areas, in long-term care, as well as hospice.”
Dr. Julie Caron is originally from Windsor, attending the University of Toronto for her medical degree and residency training. While in Toronto, she founded the Rotary Club of Toronto Skyline and the Canadian World Education Foundation in Tanzania, and continues as Chair of the organization. She continues to be actively involved in advocating for the health and well being of underserved populations including refugees, undocumented migrants, Indigenous communities (on and off reserve), and people faced with homelessness and/or transiently housing.
Julie has been working as hospitalist and emergency physician at GBGH since 2018. She started her palliative care and MAiD practice in 2019 providing care at GBGH, in the community and at Tomkins House Hospice. During that time she has also followed her passion working in northern communities such as Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Marathon. While in northern Canada she provided full scope family medicine including addictions medicine, wound care, IUD insertions, medical abortions, minor surgical procedures and trans care. She is looking forward to providing these services at Waves Family Medicine. Additionally, she intends to expand her palliative care and MAiD practice through Waves and the newly created Georgian Bay Palliative Care Team.
“We are thrilled these three physicians have connected and have initiated a group practice,” said David Gravelle, the Family Physician Recruiter for the Southern Georgian Bay area. “They will absorb some of the patients orphaned by retirements in 2019. However, our work is not done, as they cannot take everyone who currently needs a family doctor.”
According to Gravelle, COVID-19 has impacted physician recruitment efforts, as medical residents who were expected to transition to permanent practice in 2020, have delayed their starts.
“A number of the candidates in our pipeline just wrote their final qualifying exams, which is the last piece of the puzzle to becoming a licensed physician,” explained Gravelle. “Many of these residents remained in their training communities working with provisional licenses. Our hope is they will make their final decisions this fall/winter and commit to joining our community in the New Year.”
To become a patient of one of these family physicians, register with Health Care Connect via phone at 1-800-445-1822 or visit their website.
To learn more about Waves Family Medicine, click here.
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SOURCE: NEWS RELEASE
SOUTHERN GEORGIAN BAY FAMILY PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT
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