We met Sue Bala in the foyer of Markham-Stouffville Hospital (MSH). She is smart, young and confident. She has agreed to meet and introduce us to Dr. Varathan Muthulingam, the Medical Director/Owner of a new family medical clinic that is opening in Stouffville. It is named Great North Medical Centre; Sue will manage it.
Sue tells us that Dr. Muthulingam was born in Sri Lanka. His family moved to Canada in the 1980s. He was raised in Scarborough and obtained a degree in biology a the University of Toronto. Later, Dr. Muthulingam studied medicine at American University of the Caribbean, a US-modeled Doctor of Medicine Program. He completed residency in internal medicine at University of Chicago, then moved to south Illinois to be with his wife who was doing a residency in family medicine. Finally, he moved to Buffalo, NY and worked at University of Buffalo while waiting for a license to practice medicine in Ontario.
Dr. Muthulingam has privileges at MSH, Sunnybrook, Centenary Hospital and Southlake Regional. Great North Medical Centre will have five examination rooms and two doctor’s offices. Their plan is to create a one-stop shop: blood lab, pharmacy, and another specialty, possibly a psychiatrist. The clinic will start with three family doctors, including one female doctor, plus Dr. Muthulingam for internal medicine.
Dr. Muthuligam arrives a few minutes late. He has promised not to rush patient consultations, although on this frozen and snowy day in Markham, he’s acquired several more unexpected consults for the afternoon; our meet-up and photoshoot must be brief. Dr. Muthulingam is immediately welcoming and appreciative of the attention. We exchange greetings, gripe about the weather, and snap a great photo, leaving him to return to business.
Sue’s family immigrated to Canada when she was nine years old. Sue studied psychology and environmental sciences in university. She found a job in an endoscopy clinic in 2007 and quickly worked her way into management. Sue is raising a 4.5-year-old daughter and an 18-month – old son in Newmarket. She helped narrow down their search to Stouffville. “There’s really no need for more clinics in 416,” she said, “I researched Newmarket and Aurora, but found that the real need was in Stouffville.” Given their country of origin, I asked if the large South Asian community in Stouffville was a driver in where to locate the clinic. Sue said, “It is a bonus, but not the motivator – all of Stouffville needs more doctors. This is a good place for us to be.”
Dr. Muthulingam’s brother is the ‘business’ person in the family. He is a seafood importer in the U.S. and Canada. Like a lot of Sri Lankans with multi-syllable names, his brother has shortened his name for casual use to Vijay Muthu. Vijay’s expertise came into play, he narrowed Sue’s research to a new industrial condo/office building on the south side of Longo’s, at 155 Mostar Street. Vijay supervised the architects and building permit process, and contact with Town Hall.
When asked about the vision, Sue says, “This clinic will emphasize service. Service is important. My experience has led me to walk in to my doctor’s office with an appointment – sometimes I get in on schedule but most of the time it involves a long wait. I don’t want our patients to have this experience. We want as many services to be under one roof, -no waiting, no travelling around. In the future, we will add more specialists – whatever it takes to make life easier.”
Great North Medical Centre is expected to open in early March. New Patients are welcome.