Renfrew Victoria Hospital and the greater community are welcoming a new family physician to the community.
Dr. Johnny Mendoza began his family practice in Renfrew on Dec. 4, at 100 Health Village Lane with Drs. Candice Cybulskie, Amanda Low and Corey Nixon. He also has privileges at Renfrew Victoria Hospital (RVH) and will take shifts as a hospitalist, providing care for inpatients.
“I am passionate about preventative medicine and seeing patients of all ages. I feel privileged to have become part of this wonderful community and look forward to offering the best care for my patients,” said Dr. Mendoza.
He “always knew” he wanted to move back to Canada once he was fully licensed as a family practitioner.
“I grew up in the Greater Toronto Area, then went to specialize in the U.S. for family medicine. I met my wife in the U.S., we married and have one beautiful son with another on the way,” said Dr. Mendoza. “After becoming parents, we didn’t want to raise our children in a big city (GTA) and so we looked at the Ottawa area. From the very start with the RVH physician recruitment team, my wife and I felt welcomed. We toured the tightknit, vibrant, town of Renfrew and met the lovely, genuine, welcoming people residing here. We knew undoubtedly that we wanted to plant roots here in the Ottawa Valley.”
Dr. Mendoza will be rostering patients to his practice through Health Care Connect. Anyone who does not have a family physician can register with Health Care Connect online or by calling 1-800-445-1822.
Dr. Mendoza’s education includes a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Saint James School of Medicine, Netherlands Antilles, a Medical Internship at Hospital HIMA San Pablo, San Pablo, Puerto Rico, and a Family Medicine Residency at Bella Vista Hospital, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
He is bilingual in English and Spanish. His employment prior to coming to Renfrew includes Mount Sinai Allograft Technologies in Toronto, 2013-2016, Gift of Life Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2018-2019, Metro Pavia Clinic Urgent Care, Puerto Rico, 2019-2020 and HIMA San Pablo Cupey, Puerto Rico, 2019-2020.
NEED FOR DOCTORS
The need for family physicians locally is ongoing, with an estimated 8,500 orphan patients in the RVH catchment area. RVH also has ongoing needs for surgeons, nephrologists, hospitalists, and physicians to support the emergency department.
Officials say that in addition to the challenging shortage of physicians, Renfrew does not qualify for government grants that other communities can access to help entice doctors to their area, leaving Renfrew and RVH at a huge disadvantage.
RVH and Renfrew Health have been working together to find meaningful solutions to fill the void. Renfrew Health has been able to provide the clinical space and incentive funding that are necessary to be competitive and successful in recruiting new physicians to Renfrew and area. “Recruiting physicians without the support of provincial funds, we are unique in our innovative, made-in-Renfrew solutions to attract physicians,” said Julia Boudreau, RVH CEO. “We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Mendoza join our community and our hospital team.”
(Written by: Sherry Haaima)