ALLISTON, ON – The Alliston Family Health Team, the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee (PRRC) and Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) take pleasure in announcing that Dr. Hanadi Hassan has been recruited to the community as a family physician. She is the second doctor to join the Family Health Team this year.

Dr. Hassan was a medical officer in the Hematology Department in Khartoum Teaching Hospital and was a teaching assistant in a Dept. of Pathology in Om Durman University in Sudan. She was also a family physician in Dubai for seven years before completing her family medicine specialty at the University of Toronto.

“Dr. Hassan is a very welcome addition to the Alliston Family Health Team and brings unique skills and experience which will complement the group. Dr. Hassan had experience in our clinic this summer and Dr. Oswaldo Ramirez, in particular, has worked hard to recruit her to Alliston. Dr. Hassan’s primary interest is to establish a family practice in the clinic,” said Dr. Theodore Fischbacher, lead physician at the FHT.

Remi Welch, Chair of the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee welcomed Dr. Hassan on behalf of the entire community.

“Our residents, and especially those on the doctor waiting list, will be glad to hear that Dr. Hassan has joined a practice here, making it not one, but two family physicians have been recruited to the community this summer,” said Welch.

Dr Hassan will also provide inpatient care at Stevenson Memorial Hospital when her patients are admitted to the medical surgical unit.

“We welcome Dr. Hassan to the SMH team and we know she will be supported by everyone here at Stevenson,” said Gary Ryan, President and CEO of the hospital.

He also thanked Dr. Ramirez and the Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP) for their involvement in bringing Dr. Hassan here during her residency.

“The teams at Stevenson and at the Alliston Family Health Team made it very appealing to come and work in the community,” said Dr. Hassan. “I look forward to providing patients with comprehensive health and wellness care,” she said.

Residents who do not have a family physician in the community may call (705) 435-3377 extension # 3202 to add their name to a waiting list. The only things required are a name, the number of people needing a physician and a telephone number. Callers are asked to be brief and to spell their last names. The line is maintained by the hospital as a service to the community and names are given, in the order in which they are received, to the first physician able to take on new patients. There are currently over 800 names on the list, all of whom will be called and advised to make an appointment.