CAMP BIMINI CONNECTS
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CHITOKOLOKI MISSION TRIP: HOME FROM AFRICA
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Serving Tavistock and area since 1895 VOLUME 124 • NUMBER 33
TAVISTOCK, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020
CO
ONLINE EDITION
WHAT’S
VID
UP DOC?
-19
Dr. Paul Bartlett retires after 48 years at Tavistock Clinic
WEEK 10
MAIN STREET A Quick Look at Our Town THIS ‘N’ THAT What a strange sight not to see a long line up to the lights from Hope Street East on Friday of this past long weekend cottage and beach goers obviously listened to the recommendations from Health Canada … the Victoria Day long weekend was mostly a wash out with plenty of rain on Sunday and Monday - since community fireworks displays were cancelled due to the pandemic some residents had their own displays between rain showers … Canada’s Covid-19 numbers are at 78,499 with Ontario’s number at 23,384 - Ontario is beginning to allow more businesses to open with specific guidelines … thank you is extended to all our local businesses and frontline workers.
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Hudson Stahlke is 4 on May 20th; Jacob Francis, 17; Megan Bailey, 18; Sarah Bailey, 18; Ella Westlake, 19; Tye Boyd, 19; a birthday for Madelynne Sullivan; and Jennifer Himes; a 14th anniversary for Adam and Bethany Zehr; and a 25th wedding anniversary for Bob Gladding and Muriel Percy … on May 21st Fiona Paese is 8; Molly Gunn, 10; Stella MacDonald, 11; a 9th anniversary for Travis and Niki Kropf … Lily Saunders is 8 on May 22nd … on May 23rd Olive Adams is 3; Crew Munro, 5; Lochlan McOrmond, 8; and a 5th wedding anniversary for Cory and Caitlin McKay … on May 24th Avery Brenneman is 12; Leif Gladding, 18 … Reid Wynette is 6 years old May 25th; Ethan Hanlon, 16; Riley Wettlaufer, 19; anniversaries for Daniel and Kathleen Green, 7th; Brett and Amber Jackman, 7th; and Chad and Amanda Blum … on May 26th Emerson Kalbfleisch is 2; Eloise Stock-Bateman, 11; Mahalia Bamberry, 11; Jaymie Riehl, 16; and a 10th anniversary for Luke and Angie Wencel.
CLANG YOUR POTS! in support of our frontline workers Every night at 7:30 p.m.
BILL GLADDING / TAVISTOCK GAZETTE
‘‘
The new guard is there and the community is in good hands! – Dr. Paul Bartlett
’’
ifty years ago, Paul Bartlett, a fourth year medical student at the University of Alberta was on rotation studying paediatrics at Charles Campbell Hospital in Edmonton. On May 1st, 2020, Dr. Bartlett officially retired from Tavistock Community Health Inc. (formerly the Tavistock Medical Group) in a retirement that is like no other. Since the pronouncement of the COVID-19 Pandemic on March 11, 2020, Dr. Bartlett said he has been discouraged from going to the office because he is a senior. "I was only in two days since then, doing some phone call consultations," he said. But the past eight weeks of his forced retirement has given him a chance to get used to the idea. "It is usually difficult for doctors to retire," he said. "We enjoy our life-long learning and we relish our patient contact.” But this time is different. "There's been nothing like it in my 48 years of practice," Dr. Bartlett said. "SARS was limited, well-controlled," he said. "We practiced isolation then, but it never got to this point." He noted that this kind of societal distancing was normal back in the 1930's, 40’s and 50’s when Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria and Polio were prevalent. "We haven't had anything serious for 60 years. We forgot what it was like. We've gotten complacent," he added. Dr. Bartlett grew up in a military family and went to Junior High School in Prince Edward Island and attended high school and university in Edmonton. Prior to graduation he met his future wife, Joan Levick. The couple was married June 5, 1971. Paul took on an internship at St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario and the couple moved into an apartment in the city where they lived for a year. He had planned to go to study paediatrics in England,
F
but because of restrictions on flying for pregnant women, they were grounded. That was to Tavistock's benefit. Dr. Bartlett joined the Tavistock Medical Group on July 1, 1972. That's when the office was at 24 Hope Street West with founders Dr. Harold Taylor, Dr. Bruce Halliday and others. Paul and Joan immediately moved to Tavistock where they raised their four sons. The following year, on May 6, 1973, the new Tavistock Medical Clinic was opened at 80 Maria Street. Three years later, Dr. Bartlett answered a call to serve with his military roots in a contract at the Canadian Forces Base in Baden-Soellingen, Germany. He remembers the entire family touring the countryside in a Volkswagen camper van. Returning to Tavistock, Dr. Bartlett continued to work as one of the longest-serving family physicians in the village's history. As a teaching clinic, he helped many university students find their way in an ever-changing field of work. When the healthcare clinic in Tavistock was threatened in 1999 by the shortage of family physicians, Dr. Bartlett, Dr. Card, Dr. Hook, Dr. Hegde and Dr. Caulfeild were able to get the local residents on board to transform the business model to community owned. In 2002 it became Tavistock Community Health Inc. and since then, new doctors have been added to the roster. The transitions continue and longtime colleague Dr. Hook is also finding himself in the position to retire. Currently the clinic has four other officebased doctors, Vanessa Kustec, Amanda Brown, Samantha Reaume and Shahnaz Shirin and Dr. Barbara Cowing does Long-Term Care. Tavistock joined the STAR Family Health Team in 2005 and that partnership includes doctors at Avon Family Medicine Centre and O'Loane Medical Centre in Stratford. "The new guard is there and the community is in good hands," Dr. Bartlett said. "It's time for the old guard to retire." These past 50 years have also taught Dr. Bartlett many other things. An avid historian, both locally and globally, a world traveller, an art collector and a hockey dad, Dr. Bartlett has complemented his career as a physician with a lifetime of learning. (continued on page 10)