Centre for Family Medicine celebrates 20 years of excellence

This September, the Centre for Family Medicine (CFFM) celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gathering that highlighted two decades of innovation, education, and community impact. Founded in 2005 as one of the first family health teams in Ontario, CFFM has grown into a cornerstone of primary care and medical education in the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) region.

Since its inception under the leadership of Dr. Joseph Lee, CFFM has expanded to multiple sites across the region. Today, the clinic serves a combined roster of 27,077 patients, with Lee himself caring for 1,763 patients, the largest individual roster.

“Our vision has been to create a healthier tomorrow through primary care. To me, it’s really about having excellence in clinical care for patients, in teaching for our learners, and in research and innovation. We are really trying to do things differently in primary care,” says Lee, associate clinical professor of family medicine, chair and lead physician at CFFM.

CFFM has been a proud partner of the McMaster Family Medicine Residency Program since its inception, serving as the main clinic for the Kitchener-Waterloo and Area teaching site. It is the second-largest teaching site outside of Hamilton, graduating 306 residents since 2005. The site has a reputation for being innovative and progressive, offering residents a wide range of learning opportunities in a highly supportive environment.

“What started as a small program of just three or four residents has now grown to 18 residents every single year. We send them across the region to Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Wellesley. But the home base has always been at the Centre for Family Medicine,” says Dr. Marc Sawyer, assistant clinical professor of family medicine and KW site director.

A testament to the centre’s excellence, 13 of the 23 physicians currently on staff were former residents of the CFFM. Further, 70% of graduating residents have set up their practice within an hour of Kitchener-Waterloo. A large majority of alumni have taken on teaching roles as a primary family medicine preceptor, academic tutor or supervising residents in hospital settings.

“What I enjoy is emailing a previous resident, a grad of the program, and asking them if they would take a resident on rotation and the answer is always yes. The KW family is strong. The networking that they do over the two years with us just continues to enhance the residency program and the support that they feel in the clinical setting,” says Heidi Hallman, education associate with McMaster’s Department of Family Medicine and CFFM.

The centre’s excellence has not gone unnoticed. Its clinics, staff, and physicians have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Family Medicine Practice of the Year award from the Ontario College of Family Physicians in 2008 and multiple Bright Light awards from the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario.

“I’ve been really heartened by our team’s commitment to our vision and exceptionally proud of all the team members who have gone above and beyond to help people,” adds Lee.