From 1976 in St-Isidore...

The St-Isidore Medical Centre was founded in 1976.  An initiative of the Chamber of Commerce, the first building was erected at what is now 4593 Ste-Catherine Street in St-Isidore.  A few doctors worked there for a few years.  Subsequently, the Casselman Medical Center ensured a regular presence through visiting physicians, and patients could be seen in both Casselman and St-Isidore (files were shared and moved from one village to the other).

Then, one of these visiting doctors, Dr Luc Clément, decided to set up a permanent practice here in 1989.  Although the early days were rather quiet, Dr. Clément soon built up an impressive patient register.  It was not until 10 years later that he recruited an ally, when Dr. Manon Denis-LeBlanc set up her own practice.  Both are natives of the famous little village!  Having outgrown the office, Drs. Clément and Denis-LeBlanc moved the Centre to 4553, rue Ste-Catherine, on January 4, 2000.

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Passionate about family medicine, but also about education, medical students and residents have been coming and going since the very beginning of the Medical Centre.  Eager to recruit, Dr. Clément and Dr. Denis-LeBlanc tried for years to find the perfect candidate, but paper files weren't much use.  So, despite the reluctance of one and the insistence of the other... the electronic medical record arrived in 2010.  This is how St-Isidore managed to attract, and retain, a succession of young doctors: Dr. Marjorie Pomerleau (2011), Dr. Dominique Miron (2014), Dr. Julie Koncan (2017), Dr. Marie-Claude Venne (2017), Dr. Véronique LeBlanc (2020).  

After 36 years, it's time for Dr. Clément to take a well-deserved retirement.  Not wanting to leave his precious patients without relief, he succeeded in encouraging 2 fellow doctors to take up the baton.  And so, in 2022, Dr. Camille Cusson-Dufour and Dr. Marie-Anne Gougeon joined the team.

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Dynamic, cheerful, dedicated, passionate and warm-hearted, the current doctors (yes, all women, but that's just a coincidence) are delighted to be able to work in such a welcoming environment.  Surrounded by an indispensable support team, they form a solid, committed squad.

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That said, as the number of members of this firm has multiplied, space has once again become at a premium.  It's time to move up Ste-Catherine Street once again (to 4512, to be precise) to offices twice their size.  The grand unveiling of their next home is scheduled for summer 2024.  The Centre is also changing its name to St-Isidore MEDICAL.

Education remains a cornerstone of the center.  The last 7 doctors did their family medicine residencies here, one of the key sites of the Montfort Unit of the University of Ottawa's Department of Family Medicine.  And they all remain committed to the training of current trainees.  During the pandemic, the center not only continued to offer primary care, but also constantly welcomed learners to continue their all-important training.  The education of future family doctors is at the very heart of this clinic.