Hundreds of family doctors in Ontario recognized by patients for outstanding service
CBC
It all started with a simple prompt for Ontario patients: "Tell us how your family doctor has gone above and beyond for you."
Now, hundreds of family doctors in across the province are being recognized by patients for outstanding service and to highlight a continued need for close doctor-patient relationships.
It's all part of a Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) campaign to highlight the essential role of family doctors.
Kolleen McCaughan, from Newmarket, Ont., was one of thousands of patients who responded to the call.
Ten years ago, McCaughan was diagnosed with breast cancer. She credits her family doctor, Dr. Earl Schwartz, for catching it early.
"It was caught through a routine mammogram," she told CBC Toronto. "Dr. Schwartz is big on doing your yearly physical routine test. It wouldn't have been caught otherwise."
Schwartz also helped McCaughan secure a cochlear implant for her hearing in 2011 and has served as a family doctor to much of her husband's family for around 40 years, she said.
That all factored into why she felt the need to nominate him for recognition.
"He goes that extra mile for patients," McCaughan said. "He listens to them. He validates them."
Schwartz is one of 750 family physicians — 91 from the Toronto area — being recognized as part of the OCFP Life with a Doctor advocacy campaign that began in April 2022.
In a news release, the OCFP explained that patients "expressed gratitude for their family doctors, who played a crucial role in managing complex illnesses like dementia, caring for seniors, offering compassionate postpartum and mental health support, and even saved the life of a loved one."
Dr. Jobin Varughese, president of the OCFP, told CBC Toronto that local ceremonies have been held across the province to award many of the nominated doctors.
At a time when 2.5 million Ontario residents still don't have a family doctor, it's crucial to honour the ones going above the call of duty, he said.
"There's many different areas that a family doctor intersects with patient's lives," Varughese said. "Whether it's in pregnancy and births, in illness, in death and in all places, the family doctor really provides a great place for someone to go to, to learn what they need to do and what resources are available."
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It all started with a simple prompt for Ontario patients: "Tell us how your family doctor has gone above and beyond for you."
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