The Municipality of Kincardine is pleased to announce that Dr. Janine Van Veghel, Dr. Owen Montpellier, and Dr. Allegra Reeves are joining our community and will practice family medicine in Kincardine. Their arrival moves the Municipality closer to their goal of every person having access to a family physician and the necessary support for our hospital’s regular services including shifts in the emergency room.
Dr. Van Veghel graduated Medical School from Dalhousie University in May of 2022 and is currently completing a medical residency. She will potentially be able to practice family medicine as soon as August 2024.
“I am so excited for the opportunity to return home to practice medicine once I finish my residency training. My partner was able to secure employment in the local energy sector, which made committing to Kincardine a reality for our family. I’m grateful to the Municipality and our incredible community for their support,” says Dr. Van Veghel.
Dr. Montpellier graduated Medical School from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in May, 2021 and is also completing medical residency. Dr. Montpellier has the potential to practice medicine as early as January of 2024.
Both physicians join Dr. Reeves, whose recruitment was previously announced in May of 2020. In July of 2024, Dr. Reeves will potentially be able to begin practicing medicine in the Municipality. A Medical School graduate from the University of Ottawa, they are completing a residency with the University of Western Ontario in Hanover.
The Kincardine Family Health Organization currently has 10 physicians providing primary care for 14,500 patients. A full complement is closer to 15 physicians whose work includes ER shifts, provision of hospital inpatient coverage, retirement home care, pregnancy and baby wellness programs, palliative care, memory clinics, mental health management, and care for patients in all stages of life.
“We are incredibly excited to have these doctors joining our team of physicians here in Kincardine. We appreciate the challenging work our physician recruiter and the Kincardine Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee are doing. Their successful recruitment of more excellent physicians for our community is incredible,” says Dr. Angela Cavanagh.
Doug Kennedy, Chair of the Kincardine Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee echoes Dr. Cavanagh’s comments: “It’s taken some great teamwork between our committee and the doctors to help put us on a great path for recruitment.
“Our Physician Recruiter and Hawthorne Community Clinic Manager, Chrystel Murphy, alongside lead physician Dr. Cavanagh, have done a wonderful job in recruiting these new doctors,” Kennedy enthuses. “I believe we have a bright future for Physician Recruitment and Retention in the Municipality of Kincardine. I would personally like to welcome doctors Van Veghel, Montpellier, and Reeves to our community.”
Access to accommodations for the Physicians is possible thanks to the 2014 purchase of two homes by The Society of United Professionals. These homes serve as locum houses, a keystone in Kincardine’s Physician recruitment efforts.
“These accommodations are crucial to our physician recruitment efforts. We wholeheartedly thank The Society of United Professional’s for their substantial support,” says Chrystel Murphy, Physician Recruiter for the Municipality of Kincardine.
The Society of United Professionals is the union of choice for more than 8,000 professionals across Ontario including 1,200 local members who perform technical and supervisory roles for Bruce Power.
For information about the Municipality of Kincardine’s Physician Recruitment program, visit www.kincardine.ca/pr.
