Lakeshore General Hospital’s family-medicine team grows
Ever since Dr. Amélie Cormier was a little girl, she knew she wanted to be a family doctor. She grew up watching her family doctor in action and was fascinated by the job.
Cormier is now practising family medicine and obstetrics at the Lakeshore General Hospital in Pointe-Claire. She and fellow family doctors Jessica Claveau and Michèle Houde joined the Lakeshore’s birthing centre just under one year ago. The three have resurrected the practice of family doctors delivering babies at the hospital, something which had not occurred for a number of years. At the same time, they launched the GMF Stillview clinic, located across the street from the hospital.
“In family medicine, you touch on a little bit of everything, and I like that,” Cormier said. “We are on the front line. But I don’t pretend to know everything. I always know there is a colleague I can call.”
Establishing the GMF Stillview clinic is part of the hospital’s ongoing push to offer access to more health care for people in the West Island.
The trio places a special focus on women’s health, testing for sexually transmitted infections, doing Pap smears, helping with birthcontrol decisions and following patients before, during and after pregnancies. The team is accepting new patients — men, women and children alike — but people must first file an application on the Quebec government’s GAMF (Quebec Family Doctor Finder) website at gamf.gouv.qc.ca.
The system is not without its glitches. The wait time to connect with a doctor can be long. And it is important that applicants make sure their contact information is up to date because, if a doctor’s office cannot make contact with the applicant, the file is rejected.
Pregnant women do not need to register with GAMF. To make an appointment at the clinic, call 514-312-7184.
Cormier completed her medical degree at Université de Sherbrooke, did her residence at the Jewish General Hospital and was hired by the Lakeshore General Hospital immediately after completing her residency. She loves the family-medicine approach to patient care, which takes into account the patient’s emotional as well as physical condition.
“We study the person as a whole, not just the finger,” Cormier said.
Delivering babies remains Cormier’s biggest joy.
“It is so nice to witness all the hard work done by the mother and then to see the happy (result),” she said. “And if there ever is a problem, we have followed the mother through the entire pregnancy so we know her well.”
The GMF Stillview doctors have a good relationship with the midwives working at the Community Birthing Centre, located on the third floor of the CLSC Lac-StLouis on Cartier Avenue. Cormier said they consult with each other and even take the same training courses, “just to be sure we’re all on the same page.”
Cormier will be on maternity leave in July. She will be replaced by another family physician/obstetrician, and when she returns, the doctor will remain with the team, which means more patients will be accepted. No, her baby will not be delivered by one of the team. That will be the responsibility of a doctor Cormier met during her training.