MOUNT FOREST – North Wellington Health Care and the Mount Forest Family Health Team officially have a new doctor, though she is not new to the community.
Dr. Natalya O’Neill, a former Mount Forest family medicine resident, recently joined the family health team, taking over the practice of Dr. Hugh Perrin.
According to a recent presentation to Wellington North Township council by Wellington Health Care Alliance (WHCA) president and CEO Angela Stanley, Perrin retired in June after 40 years of service.
In her July 22 presentation, Stanley commented that WHCA’s greatest success when it comes to physician recruitment is through its residency program.
“They come in and they actually love the community, they stay in the community, and then they want to come back and work for us,” Stanley told council.
O’Neill’s office is in the Claire Stewart Medical Clinic, across the street from Louise Marshall Hospital.
She works alongside Dr. John Reaume – under whose mentorship she completed her residency – and doctors Alex Goytisolo, Julie Weinstein, Melanie Maurus, Russell Law, and Christopher Rowley.
In a WHCA news release, O’Neill, who is originally from Owen Sound, said she is honoured to be a family physician in a rural community.
“I am professionally and personally fulfilled with the broad scope of practice and the opportunity to deliver longitudinal care,” she stated.
Along with her rural family practice, O’Neill will also provide hospital care, general practitioner oncology, and emergency medicine at Louise Marshall Hospital.
“The Mount Forest Family Health Team and Family Health Organization is composed of a group of compassionate and skilled healthcare professionals,” O’Neill stated in the release. “I enjoy working with this team that fosters the spirited initiative and resourcefulness necessary to have a successful career in rural medicine.
“I look forward to every workday because I am able to follow my passion for comprehensive rural family medicine while collaborating with a dedicated, caring and supportive healthcare team.”
