Dr Emilija O Florance has joined the team at Gifford Health Care, providing Primary Care at Gifford’s Randolph and Berlin locations. Florance sees patients of all ages, newborn to geriatric, and provides a wide range of care, from chronic disease management to women’s health. Her approach to care is based on developing a partnership with each patient.
“I love connecting with patients, getting to know them and the community I serve,” said Florance, who recently completed her residency at Riverside Family Medicine in Newport News, Va. “I also enjoy the variety offered by practicing family medicine. Each day is different and rewarding, whether I am working with a diabetic patient or with an expectant mother.”
Florance brings to her new role a deep connection to Vermont, and to Gifford, having spent summers and holidays with family in Randolph for many years. As a teenager, she even volunteered at the hospital with her great aunt, Myrtle “Margaret” Egerton, who served with Gifford’s chaplaincy program until her passing in 2010.
“I knew Vermont was where I wanted to be,” Florance said. “And I prefer small hospitals to big ones.”
The doctor comes from a long tradition of health care—her father is also a doctor and her mother, a nurse—but Florance chose first to pursue a career in hospitality. She spent 10 years in that industry before going to medical school.
“The experience taught me a lot about customer service,” she said, which carries through to her approach to patient care and her ability to relate to different people and their experiences.
Florance is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and Virginia Academy of Family Physicians. She earned her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg. In medical school, she served as co-president of the Student Family Medicine Association, on the school’s admissions committee, and in other leadership roles. Her previous experience in event planning and hotel management on cruise ships included travel to the Panama Canal, British Columbia, and Alaska. When not at work, she enjoys art, baking, and spending time at her family home in Randolph.
For more information about Primary Care at Gifford, visit giffordhealthcare.org/service/primary-care.
Gifford is a community hospital in Randolph, Vt, with family health centers in Berlin, Bethel, Chelsea, Randolph, Rochester, and White River Junction; and specialty services throughout central Vermont. A Federally Qualified Health Center and a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the country, Gifford is a full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency department and inpatient unit; many surgical services; a day care; two adult day programs; and the 30-bed Menig Nursing Home, which was named by US News & World Report as one of the best 39 nursing homes in the country in 2012. The Birthing Center, established in 1977, was the first in Vermont to offer an alternative to traditional hospital-based deliveries, and continues to be a leader in midwifery and family-centered care. The hospital’s mission is to improve individuals’ and community health by providing and assuring access to affordable, high-quality health care in Gifford’s service area.