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Penticton doctor recognized

Dr. Leona Harries earned the My Family Doctor Award recently
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A family doctor with close to 30 years experience in Penticton was recently recognized by the B.C. College of Family Physicians (BCCFP).

Dr. Leona Harries along with four other family doctor’s from across the province were named recipients of the My Family Doctor Award.

The awards, which included First Five Years of Practice and Innovations in Primary Care, were handed out as part of B.C. Family Doctor Day held May 19.

Harries and her husband Dr. Jeff Harries opened a family medicine practice in Penticton in 1990. In 1997, a third partner joined the practice Dr. Colwyn Wren.

Harries graduated from the University of Calgary Medical School in 1988 and did a rotating internship at St. Thomas Hospital and Medical Centre in Akron, Ohio before coming to Penticton.

In addition to the practice, Harries operates a small three-acre vineyard at her home and is also raising a family.

She described her life as a family physician as rewarding and thanked her patients in a news release about the award, “their trust in me, and the honour they pay me by allowing me to care for them.”

Dr. Jeanette Boyd, BCCFP president, noted in a news release, more than 300 patients nominated their own doctors for the My Family Doctor awards, sharing some inspiring and moving stories about the value of the patient-doctor relationship.

“It is incredibly inspiring to read about the difference that my colleagues make in the lives of patients and their families,” she stated.

Also earning My Family Doctor Awards were Dr. Nick Petropolis of Fraser Health who practices in New Westminister, Dr. Kevin Martin of Island Health who practices in Nanaimo, Dr. Bent Hougesen, Northern Health, practices in Hazelton and Dr. Kelsey Kozoriz of Vancouver Coastal Health who practices in Vancouver.

Earning the First Five Years of Practice Award was Dr. Terri Aldred (Prince George) and the Innovations in Primary Care Award was given to Change BC (Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice - Houston, Smithers, Terrace and Haida Gwaii).