New medical officer of health named for Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit

The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit will have a new medical officer of health beginning in April 2021.

The health unit’s board of health has announced the appointment of Dr. Natalie Bocking as the new medical officer of health (MOH), beginning on April 5, 2021.

She will replace current MOH Dr. Lynn Noseworthy who had earlier this year announced her intentions to retire at the end of June. However, she delayed those plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bocking and her family moved to the City of Kawartha Lakes in the fall of 2019.

According to the health unit, Noseworthy will retire on Dec. 11 with Dr. Ian Gemmill serving as acting MOH until Bocking can assume her new position. Gemmill has previously served as the MOH for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Public Health until his retirement in 2017.

“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Bocking join HKPR,” stateed Doug Elmslie, the health unit’s board’s chairperson. “She has a wealth of knowledge and experience in providing public health programs and services in rural areas of the province and has most recently worked with northern First Nations communities to provide public health services.”

According to the health unit, Bocking is a public health and preventive medicine specialist and was certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2015 following the completion of her specialty training at the University of Toronto. Her academic training also includes a medical doctorate from McMaster University and masters in International Public Health from the University of Sydney, Australia.

Bocking has spent the past four years working as a public health physician with Thunder Bay District Health Unit and Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority where she supported the development of a community-based First Nations-governed public health system for 31 rural and remote First Nations. The health unit says this also included overseeing tuberculosis and hepatitis C programming, population health assessment, and maternal and child health support.

Bocking has also worked as a locum family physician in northwestern Ontario. She has published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at provincial and national conferences.

“Dr. Noseworthy has guided this health unit through some challenging times and we wish her all the best for her well-deserved retirement,” said Elmslie. “Dr. Noseworthy has worked tirelessly to help provide quality public health programs and services to the residents in our communities and I know Dr. Bocking will do an excellent job in carrying on that work.”

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