After joining the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority in June 2020 to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. John Guilfoyle is retiring.
Those with the SLFNHA say Dr. Guilfoyle will be missed, as he has become a trusted source of leadership in the Sioux Lookout region.
“Dr. John Guilfoyle brought a very calming presence when the communities that we serve needed it the most,” said James Morris, Executive Director of SLFNHA. “His hard work and dedication will be always remembered. We wish John a well-deserved and happy retirement.”
As Dr. Guilfoyle makes his departure, SLFNHA welcomes Dr. Lloyd Douglas as the new public health physician.
“We would like to thank Dr. John Guilfoyle for all the support provided during the pandemic over the past year and wish him the best in all his future endeavours,” says John Cutfeet, SLFNHA’s Board Chair. “We now welcome Dr. Douglas as SLFNHA’s new public health physician and look forward to working with him in the days to come.”
Dr. Lloyd Douglas grew up in Jamaica, emigrated to Ottawa with his family in 2010 and three years later they moved to Sioux Lookout.
Dr. Douglas graduated from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine with family medicine training in 2016, as well as Public Health and Preventive Medicine in 2019.
Previously, he has worked for the Independent First Nations Alliance as a physician consultant.
Dr. Lloyd Douglas says he looks forward to serving the region as the SLFNHA Public Health Physician.
“My experiences in the region helped me understand the passion of the five men from the Sandy Lake First Nation who went on a hunger strike, in 1988, to protest health inequities in First Nation
communities,” says Dr. Douglas. “Like the ‘Amik’ (beaver), I am focused on supporting and leading a team to continue working, patiently yet persistently, with federal, provincial, and regional partners to continue the implementation of a First Nations-based and governed public health system for SLFNHA area communities. I look forward to serving the Anishinaabe people of this land on their journey to good health.”