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Brockville General Hospital |
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News Release |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Leeds/Grenville—A new paediatrician, Dr. Harmeet Chawla, has joined the Brockville General Hospital (BGH) Department of Paediatrics. Chawla has returned home to help bring special services to area children and families. Dr. Chawla was born and raised in Brockville. After completing her Secondary Education at Thousand Islands Secondary School, Harmeet continued on at Queen’s University in Kingston and completed her Bachelor of Science degree. A medical degree was pursued in England at the University of Leicester. Residency training in paediatrics brought her back to Canada, to the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). “During our residency training, we did rotations in the northern communities in Nunavut, and North Bay to provide paediatric care,” says Chawla. “It was a great learning experience to work in different rural environments.” Inspiration for a career in medicine has family ties for Chawla. Her mother, Dr. Harvinder Chawla, is also a paediatrician, currently Chief of Paediatrics at the Brockville General Hospital (BGH). The other source of inspiration came from BGH itself. “In the 1990’s,” says Chawla, “the Brockville General Volunteer Association had a special program for high school students called ‘Volunteens.’ You could volunteer at the hospital and get first-hand experience of working in a medical environment. I volunteered with the program for four years, becoming the Volunteer Coordinator for Volunteens in my final year.” “It was a tremendous opportunity,” she continues. “The Volunteens engaged primarily with the geriatric programs; but when I was coordinator, we expanded to paediatrics and began to interact with children. I really learned a lot, and it was a very good starting point for a career in paediatric medicine. I continued to volunteer with children while doing my undergraduate degree in Kingston at Queen’s University.” Now that Chawla is back in Brockville, she plans to open a full-time referral consulting paediatric practice as well as several different specialty clinics for children. “I’m going to focus on a number of areas, including clinics for childhood obesity, asthma, and allergies. In collaboration with CHEO, I will be establishing a Down Syndrome clinic based in Brockville, so that these children do not have to travel to Ottawa to receive these services. I have also started working with the existing Infant and Child Development Program at BGH with issues related to growth and development. I will be working with a team that will include physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational and play therapy. In all cases, we would work as a team with family physicians.” “Dr. Chawla’s appointment is yet another success story reflective of the efforts of the community-supported physician recruitment program,” says Ray Marshall, President and CEO of Brockville General Hospital. “The program would not exist without the generous assistance of those who believe in the initiative and support it financially.” Dr. Chawla is based at 100 Strowger Blvd, Suite 116 “I’m happy to be back in Brockville,” she says, “and excited to begin work. This is a great community, and I love the river and all the recreation that goes with it.” And Brockville General Hospital? “I’ve been connected to BGH since I was born,” smiles Chawla. “It’s really nice to come back home.”
Dr. Harmeet Chawla For more information, please contact:
Healthy people – Outstanding Care
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