Meet Our New Physician
Calais Community Hospital is pleased to welcome Family Medicine Physician Dr. Jacqueline Russell to Calais Community Provider Practices. Dr. Russell earned her medical degree from the University of New England Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, ME. She completed a transitional intern year at St Barnabus NMM Residency in Bronx, NY and a Family Medicine Residency at Eastern Connecticut Health Network in Manchester, CT. Most recently, Dr. Russell has been practicing primary care in Belfast, ME.
Dr. Russell says she spent many years trying to figure out what she wanted to do – nine years in the Marine Corps, twenty plus years in electronics, and the last eight doing therapeutic massage in Florida and Maine – before heading to medical school. She explains that she desired a career where she could make a real difference in people’s lives. She hopes to develop a relationship with her patients that will enable her to provide personalized care that truly fits with the patient’s life and goals.
Dr. Russell is the youngest of six children and was born in the small rural town of North Royalton, Ohio. “We were one of four houses on the street, and I remember walking up to the little variety store with my friends when I was about 8 or 9 and playing outside till it was dark without ever worrying about anything bad happening,” she describes. There was one grocery store and one elementary school. Dr. Russell said her childhood home had a huge garden and thirty or more chickens and ducks, two huge rabbits, a dog, and a handful of cats. At the age of twelve following the death of Dr. Russell’s father in a car accident, she moved from her rural roots with her mother and brother to Florida to be closer to her sisters. And she has been moving ever since: military when she was 17-26, then moving with jobs, and finally to follow her dreams of medical school and residency.
Dr. Russell describes her best accomplishment as being the mother of two wonderful people and grandmother of seven. Her son’s family is based in Biddeford while he works in DC and her daughter lives in Connecticut. When she is not working, Dr. Russell has a variety of activities she enjoys. She loves to garden and watch things grow – planting flowers, vegetables, and herbs. Once she has settled in she hopes to have a garden full of parsley and lemon balm and mint and cilantro. She also loves to cook, especially Italian or Thai food. She likes to spend rainy days knitting and crocheting and doing puzzles.
Dr. Russell is looking forward to her move to Calais and getting to know all the area has to offer. She describes, “I truly am looking for a place where I can settle and have neighbors that drop by and a community I feel I am a part of. Big cities are hectic and oddly lonely- I hope Calais can be that home for me.”
Dr. Russell will begin seeing patients in September at the CCPP Primary Care office. Call 454-8195, option 2 for an appointment or to inquire about her services. Please take the opportunity to welcome our newest physician if the opportunity presents itself.