Nikki Buechler
Shawville Nov 27, 2021
There are signs of imminent departure, boxes in the hallway; the walls are bare. Dr. Maurice Lamarche and his wife France M. Lamarche are moving away from Shawville to enjoy retirement, with Dr. Lamarche leaving behind the . . .
responsibilities and demands of a long career as a prominent small-town doctor.
They won’t be moving far, they plan on staying in the Outaouais region, closer to their only grandson.
Dr. Lamarche spoke with THE EQUITY on Saturday to say a few parting words about his tenure in Shawville.
His fondness for the Pontiac is evident as he summarized his 45 years in the area: “People here are friendly and respectful,” he said. Dr. Lamarche has a background in family medicine, but seems to have experienced doing just about everything. “I’ve done general care, intensive care, trauma, family practice,” he became lost in thought, trying to recall the entire list.
Following a career working directly with people, he has some well-supported insight into what is happening in the area. “The level of socio-economic development is not as high here as other areas, but people are very committed to their communities.” And he is optimistic about Shawville’s future prospects: “people in power [local government] are making effort, trying to bring socio-economic activity to the area, and the work they are doing is laudable.”
Despite there being a shortage of medical professionals in the area, Dr. Lamarche did not anticipate there being any significant deleterious reverberations from his departure. He was reassuring: “my colleagues are very capable.”
The subject of medical personnel shortages in the area was raised. “We do need a second internist at the hospital. And physiotherapists. And nurses trained in obstetrics.”
While Dr. Lamarche had respect and admiration for his colleagues in Shawville, he expressed some frustration when discussing hospital governance:
“When the administration was centralized [in Gatineau], the Shawville Hospital lost the ability to manage itself,” he said. “Before, [The Shawville Hospital] had good admins. A balanced budget. And they knew what we needed; what programs to initiate or adjust.
“Now,” he continued, “the administrators within the big-city hospital don’t know what each satellite needs.”
When asked about the pandemic, Dr. Lamarche summarized the situation in The Pontiac: “We were lucky here — COVID required and received an immediate response.”
He elaborated: “The hospital had to separate patients and make adjustments, and create private and separate spaces to keep patients safe.” His appreciation for the proactive and responsible actions taken by the Shawville Hospital was echoed by his praise for the community: “We [The Pontiac] were able to manage so well in part because of the way the community took steps to protect each other,” he said.
“We’ve seen cases, of course, but most of them have come from people having social gatherings and not following recommendations.” That said, the number and severity of cases has not been as bad as some other areas. “We have a small and widely dispersed population, which helps, but people generally listened to the mandates and followed the protocols with a sense of responsibility and concern for others.”
Dr. Lamarche has been a pillar of the community for almost half a century. And during that time, he has probably seen just about everything, considering the nature of the profession he is leaving behind. As such, his fondness for Shawville seems all the more meaningful.
