A compassionate adult nurse practitioner with a remarkable 35 years of experience caring for Vermonters has joined Gifford Medical Center. Mary LaBrecque of North Pomfret has worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction since 1975. She joins Gifford in Randolph three days a week, but will continue to see patients part time at the VA hospital through Sept. 4.
A Massachusetts native who earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing at Northeastern University in Boston, LaBrecque first came to Vermont in 1973 to ski. She worked as a nurse for several years before going on to attend the family nurse practitioner program at the University of Vermont in Burlington and earn her board certification as an adult nurse practitioner from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She also holds a second special certification as a geriatric nurse practitioner from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and was named Vermont Nurse Practitioner of the Year in 1993. In 2000, she collected a master’s degree in nursing from Rivier College in Nashua, N.H. She has also been on the faculty of Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H., since 1983, and since 1995 has taught a two-year introduction to clinical medicine course called “On Doctoring” to first- and second-year medical students.
She brings this wealth of experience to Gifford’s internal medicine practice in part because of her relationships with her new Gifford colleagues. “I’ve known Milt Fowler for years, and I know Dave Pattison,” she says, naming two of the practices three popular physicians.
She also knew Gifford as a great hospital where she could continue her love of providing primary care.
“I knew that Gifford was just a very good community hospital,” says LaBrecque, who gave birth to her first child at Gifford. “It was the only place I sent a resume to.”
LaBrecque’s clinical interests include adult and geriatric medicine, preventative care and helping people manage their chronic diseases.
“We’re so fortunate to have Mary join us. She’s an experienced caregiver and an incredibly caring individual who I know our patients – particularly our geriatric patients and the chronically ill – will embrace,” noted Teresa Voci, Gifford’s medicine division vice president.