By Mike Anderson
Clinic Director Beth Cowper-Fung is retiring; stepping away from her leadership role at the Georgina Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic (GNPLC), located at 21071 Dalton Rd in Jackson’s Point.
John Holbrook, a former Ornge paramedic and nurse practitioner, is the new clinic director.
Since 2011, Cowper-Fung has led the GNPLC through several tumultuous events, including a fire that destroyed the original clinic in 2018, setting up a temporary location on High Street, and opening the brand-new clinic built by Health Georgina in 2022.
She says opening the clinic in July of 2011, on the site of Dr. George Burrows’ former family practice, was one of her most significant accomplishments.
“There were only 20 at the time. And only 12 were awarded that year. Now, there’s a total of 27 in the province. So, it was a huge win,” she said. “But getting the funding for the new site on Dalton Rd was also a huge win.”
Despite the successes, Cowper-Fung says GNPLC still needs to increase the number of NPs so the clinic can take on more patients.
“We’ve applied two different times to expand the clinic. We know that there are physicians who are retiring. We want to be able to give those patients care. We have the capacity. We want to be able to do that,” she said.
“Right now, we’ve got the five core NPs at the main site, and we have an NP at the Children’s Care Clinic. We absolutely could expand to another one or two NPs and take on either 800 or 1600 more patients.”
Holbrook agrees. He says GNPLC expansion will be a priority under his watch. He also wants to establish a satellite service in Pefferlaw and improve service on Georgina Island.
“The Chippewas need more healthcare services on the Island. Currently, NP Melissa Cassidy goes once a week. But that needs to be expanded,” Holbrook said.
During her tenure, Cowper-Fung also made significant contributions to the Georgina community, including establishing drive-through Covid testing in 2020, which allowed residents to get tested before visiting relatives in LTC homes.
“There was talk about being able to do drive-through testing in different places. I had been a medic with the Canadian Armed Forces, and we worked out of tents in the field. So, I called Georgina Fire Chief Ron Jenkins because he had worked with the emergency preparedness group. And then we got public health and the paramedics on board. So, we got it up and running in short order,” she said.
“We had a lot of people who needed to be tested so they could visit their loved ones in long-term care.”
Cowper-Fung also served on numerous medical boards advocating for the expansion of nurse practitioners in the province.
While Cowper-Fung is glad she will have more time for her family, retirement does not mean stepping away from the medical field.
She has retained her NP license and will continue to pick up shifts at the GNPLC and Children’s Care Clinic in Keswick. She also serves on the boards of two NP clinics: The North Muskoka and Huronia NPLCs.
GNPLC held a retirement party for Cowper-Fung at the Link on September 5. GNPLC colleagues, Chief Ron Jenkins and Mayor Margaret Quirk, as well as former patients, made remarks, thanking Cowper-Fung for her leadership and many contributions, including advancing healthcare for Georgina residents.
Speaking of her career in Georgina, Cowper-Fung told the Post, “It has been my greatest joy.”
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