Our Services
Our Family Physicians Serve Our Patients With Pride
Our mission is to create and deliver a model of lifelong care that optimizes health for the individuals, families and community we serve. We will achieve our mission with a collaborative approach to patient-centred primary health care, thoughtful innovation, and the application of best practices supported by advanced information technology.
Our family physicians cover the greater Markham area via three different locations. Our FHT enthusiastically provides:
Dr. Dana Abenstein
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Michelle Alexander
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Isabel Alvarez
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Martha Carruthers
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Lily Chen
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Ron Esterbauer
Family Physician at Main Street Location
Dr. Tom Filosa
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Allan Grill
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Peter Haw
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Jeanne Huo
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Daryl Lougheed
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Lorraine Mingie
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Bill Newton
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Deepti Pasricha
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Amrita Sembhi
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Parm Singh
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Shivani Sritharan
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Greg Um
Family Physician at Main Street Location
Dr. Andrew Wayne
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Jeff
Weissberger
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Shintula
Wijeyakulasingam
Family Physician at Cornell Park Location
Dr. Yishai Wise
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Dr. Ashley Zaretsky
Family Physician at Church Street Location
Nurse Practitioners
In Ontario, legislated Nurse Practitioners diagnose and manage acute illnesses and chronic diseases, prescribe medications for you, order diagnostics, and refer you to specialists if needed. They perform wellness exams, medicals required for most third party companies, and care for you during your pregnancy and after you deliver. They follow patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, osteoarthritis, and mental health concerns.
Our Nurse Practitioner team includes:
Sheri Devereaux, Heather Olan, Stephen Ng, Shaindy Apelowicz and Kelly Van Camp.
Occupational Therapist
Jasdeep Chahal is an Occupational Therapist with the Markham Family Health Team. She completed her Bachelor of Science at University of Toronto Mississauga in Psychology with a specialty in Exceptionality in Human Learning. She then completed her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at McMaster University.
With previous experience in community mental health, Jasdeep joined the Markham Family Health Team in 2014. She is currently providing services through the Seniors Home Support Program and general practice. As an occupational therapist, Jasdeep works with clients to restore function in areas of self-care, productivity, and leisure. As well, Jasdeep is involved with facilitating our self-management program(s).
Registered Dietitian
Our RD delivers nutrition advice in a compassionate, individualized approach, working with each person to guide them to make healthy eating choices that is optimal for good health. Nicole Jean-Pierre is our Registered Dietitian as well as Diabetes Educator.
Our registered dietitian will consult, educate and make recommendations to patients and their families regarding:
- food literacy and food insecurity
- monitoring of childhood growth/development
- Pediatric nutrition (e.g. poor growth, picky eating, infant feeding etc)
- the effects of medication on nutritional intake
- chronic diseases (e.g. chronic kidney disease, fatty liver, cardiovascular, diabetes)
- pre-surgical optimization/post-op nutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, acute malnutrition
- Anemia
- underweight/ poor appetite
- digestive disorders (e.g. IBS, IBD, celiac, GERD, diverticular disease)
- Food allergies and food intolerances
- dysphagia (needs SLP assessment prior to RD appointment)
- Abnormal labs with nutritional implications (e.g. albumin, ferritin, folate, B12, sodium, creatine/urea, phosphorus, potassium etc.)
- High blood pressure
- Osteoporosis/ Osteopenia
- Prenatal and postnatal nutrition
- Ongoing diarrhea/nausea/vomiting
Pharmacist
Sheetal Desai is our clinical pharmacist at the FHT. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at McMaster University and then completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. Besides working at the FHT, Sheetal is also a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Pharmacy at UofT. The pharmacist’s role at the FHT involves collaborating with family physicians and other health care providers in order to optimize medication therapy for patients especially with chronic disease (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, anticoagulation). Sheetal is a Certified Diabetes Educator and actively involved with our diabetes program. You may also see her if referred to the Seniors Home Support Program as she is our dedicated Certified Geriatric Pharmacist. Sheetal can be seen for a medication assessment where she will review your medications to ensure you are receiving the most appropriate therapy. She can address your medication related concerns and consult with your primary care provider when needed. Sheetal’s expertise is available to you at the FHT, you can speak to your provider at your next visit or schedule your own appointment if you are interested.
Registered Chiropodist
Shirley Cheung is MFHT’s Registered Chiropodist/Foot Specialist. Shirley’s role at the Markham FHT involves Chiropody assessment, treatment and foot care education. Some indications for a Chiropody visit can include: diabetic and high risk foot assessments, general foot assessments, and treatment of conditions such as ingrown toenails, calluses and corns, heel and foot pain.
Shirley is a member of the diabetes care team and the Seniors Home Support Program, and facilitates educational foot care workshops.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with Shirley, please speak with your health care provider.
Social Workers
Our Social Work team provides short-term mental health services to individuals struggling with concerns including depression, anxiety, life stressors and more. The team is composed of four Social Workers; Rhonda, Kim, Vanessa and Brittany, who are all registered and in good standing with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW). They are passionate about helping individuals optimize their overall health by attending to their social and emotional concerns. Services are provided through either individual counselling or group psychoeducational-based programs. The Social Workers utilize interventions from a variety of evidence-based treatments including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solutions Focused, and more. They can also be helpful in exploring and facilitating connection with additional community resources and supports.