Doctor Doug Black retires again

Jeff Green | Oct 28, 2010

It was about 13 years ago that Doug Black, who had recently moved into a new home on a pond near Bolingbroke where he intended to retire with his wife Dorothy, agreed to help out at the Sharbot Lake Medical Clinic “just for the summer”.

To say Doug Black brought a wealth of experience as a rural clinician with him to Sharbot Lake would be a gross understatement.

He began practicing medicine in 1961 after graduating from the University of British Columbia. He practiced in Northern B.C. in Terrace Bay, then moved to Baiverte, Newfoundland where he practised for 15 years from the United Church. The Blacks moved to London, Ontario in 1980, where among other things Doug worked at Western as the coordinator of the Northern Outreach teaching program. In 1984, Dorothy and Doug became restless, so they decided to move to Fort Francis in Northern Ontario, where Doug practised for another 12 years, before retiring to Bolingbroke.

After all that, practising in a clinic that is located one hour’s drive from a tertiary care centre at Kingston General Hospital has been anything but a remote location for Dr. Black.

That summer helping out turned into a 13-year stint, working as a ¾ time doctor in Sharbot Lake, and last week a dinner was held to mark Doug Black’s last day at the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, which is what the clinic has become.

For Doctor Peter Bell, working with Doug Black has been like working with family.

In his remarks at Dr. Black’s retirement dinner, Peter Bell, said, “To me it has been rather like having an older brother who shared his experience and wisdom and was always easy to get along with in a relationship that was based on trust and respect.”

He then said he doesn’t really believe that Dr. Black is actually going to retire, and indeed Black is expected to continue to work at the clinic on an occasional basis. But not until he returns from a trip that he is taking with his wife Dorothy, with whom he has now been married for over 52 years.

As to the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, a new doctor has come on staff. Doctor Piotr Oglaza has joined the staff, and will be taking over Dr. Black’s duties. Dr. Oglaza was a resident in Sharbot Lake some years ago and has an interest in public medicine, for which he is working on a Master’s Degree, as well as in clinical practice.

He joins the team of physicians, a nurse practitioner, nurses and other professionals who provide service to 2,800 rostered patients and others at the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team.

“Because of the way the Ministry of Health works, patients are rostered to an individual doctor at our clinic” said Dr. Bell, “and for that reason some patients are receiving letters from Dr. Black saying Dr. Oglaza is taking over their care. We don’t really work that way here, so in most cases the patients never knew they were rostered to one doctor or another. It really is only a formality. Dr. Oglaza is joining our integrated team and we are happy to welcome him back to Sharbot Lake.”

But that doesn’t mean Peter Bell won’t miss Doug Black.

Older brothers are not that easy to find.