For one Unionville family, medicine is less a career than a shared language. A profile published Feb. 1 by Oak Valley Health, which runs Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH), introduces the Lougheeds, a family whose ties to the hospital stretch back more than three decades.

Dr. Eileen Lougheed is a retired MSH family doctor. Four of her adult children followed her into medicine, and two of them, Dr. Daryl Lougheed and Dr. Justan Lougheed, now practise at the same hospital.

A clinic in the basement

The family's story begins in 1982, when Dr. Eileen, then a young mother, set up a full-service medical clinic in the basement of the family's Unionville home. Her children would come home from school for lunch and drop into the clinic after classes.

In the early days, I built a home office so I could be there for my kids. Patients loved it, and so did my family. It made medicine part of our everyday lives.

— Dr. Eileen Lougheed

In 1992 she moved her practice to MSH, where she also helped establish the hospital's palliative care service. Her eldest son, Daryl, went with her on weekend rounds as a boy and remembers how staff greeted her at the nursing station.

Two sons, one hospital

Daryl is now a family doctor at MSH, like his mother. He describes a practice built around the patient rather than the diagnosis, and says family medicine today relies on teamwork with pharmacists, occupational therapists and other professionals, as well as with patients themselves.

The patient is the captain, and I'm the navigator. I'm here to give the best advice and then let you go with it.

— Dr. Daryl Lougheed

His younger brother Justan is a psychiatrist at MSH. He said in the profile that growing up watching his mother's relationships with her patients showed him early what good care looks like, and that being the child of a legend made it easier to find his place at the hospital.

Family dinners tend to drift toward medical topics, Daryl said, and he joked that the non-physicians in the family should have honorary medical degrees by now. There are 13 grandchildren.

Beyond Markham

The family's medical reach extends beyond York Region. A third son, Dr. Taylor Lougheed, did part of his residency at MSH and is now chief of emergency medicine at North Bay Regional Health Centre. Dr. Eileen's eldest daughter, Dr. Maran Lougheed, was chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Guthrie Corning Hospital in New York State until her death in 2018.

Fundraising at altitude

The Lougheeds have also raised money for the hospital in unusual ways. In 2011, Dr. Eileen and her husband, Brandon, joined hospital staff and foundation supporters in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, raising funds that helped expand MSH's mental health facilities. In 2018, they hiked with a team to Mount Everest Base Camp to raise money for new equipment and an expansion of the hospital's surgical services.

The profile was written for the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation and shared by Oak Valley Health.