Sudbury physician recognized in Ontario campaign that emphasizes 'essential role' of family doctors

When Nedine Lair's husband, Mark Lair, told his doctor he was having difficulty breathing, he wasn't dismissed by his family doctor. Instead, she pressed for a proper diagnosis.

"She was like a dog with a bone. She just kept digging and digging and digging to find the root cause," Lair said about Dr. Valerie Mantle. 

Mark was referred to a cardiologist and was diagnosed with an anomalous coronary artery – a rare heart condition.

He had surgery to correct the condition, and is now doing fine.

Lair and her husband live in Lively, a community in the western part of Greater Sudbury.

As part of a campaign from the Ontario College of Family Physicians to recognize the "essential role of family doctors" she nominated Mantle for that recognition.

Lair said not all health-care workers show the level of compassion and empathy that she's seen from her family doctor.

"When my father was reaching the end of his journey and was hospitalized, she happened to be the doctor on call that came in to visit him," Lair said.

"She also actually came out to their residence and gave both my parents their flu shot because they weren't able to get in anywhere to get it."

Lair noted that she often gets tonsillitis and visited a walk-in clinic once when her throat was particularly sore. She told the doctor about her medical history, but he just recommended she get some lozenges for a sore throat.

"And the next day I was in emerge with tonsillitis," she said.

But she said Dr. Mantle has never second-guessed her, and understands that she knows her own body better than anyone.

Lair said her "heart breaks" for the millions of Ontarians who don't have a family doctor.

"Everything that they need, they have to go inside a clinic for hours. There's no consistency," she said.