Occupation: I am a medical doctor with Newtown Pediatrics at 172 Mt Pleasant Road, which is a new location for my practice as of July 2004. As a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, I joined the Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics in 1
Occupation: I am a medical doctor with Newtown Pediatrics at 172 Mt Pleasant Road, which is a new location for my practice as of July 2004. As a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, I joined the Danbury Hospital Department of Pediatrics in 1997.
I am a graduate of the University of Philippines College of Medicine and completed a pediatric internship at Bridgeport Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine, and pediatric residencies at Northshore Cornell University Hospitals/Cornell University Medical College and Westchester County Medical Center/New York Medical College. I completed fellowship training in clinical genetics and dysmorphology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
How Long In Newtown: My husband and I first came here in 1992, and we lived for a while with his parents in one of the doctorsâ homes at the end of Mile Hill Road. My father-in-law was a physician at Fairfield Hills before it closed in 1995.
Now we live in our own home on Tunnel Road, and my husband has bought one of those small houses along Queen Street to fix up as a rental, since we both feel an attachment to what was once the hospital campus.
Actually, I am Chinese since my parents were immigrants from Mainland China. I was born in Manila, The Philippines.
Why Newtown Feels Like Home: I am constantly amazed that despite the vastness of the United States, I ended up here in Newtown. It is almost like fate had a part in making it happen. My parish back in the Philippines was also called St Rose, and Dr Tom Draper from whom I bought the practice, not only has an affinity for Asians, he had been a very good friend of a particularly wonderful Jesuit priest who taught in the Catholic school I attended. You could call this coincidental, but I believe I was meant to come here.
Family: My husband, Herbert Mortera, grew up in the United States but we met in the Philippines. He is a radiology technician. We have two children. Brittany, 11, is in the sixth grade at St Rose School and Christian, 9, is in the fourth grade.
Hobbies: Our whole family loves music, and I play the piano and organ. We also like karaoke, and we belong to a cultural dance group. I love to cook.
Pets: We have two dogs. One is a Lab mix called Lucky and the other is a yippy little schnauzer called Kelly. We had Ginger for 12 years and recently had to put her down. She was like our oldest child and we all still miss her.
Favorite TV Show: The television is fixed at the Food Network and home improvement shows. I also enjoy Crossing Jordan and Cold Case Files ââ anything to do with medicine and crime.
Organizations: We support the Filipine American Association of Western Connecticut (FAAWC), a cultural group in the greater Danbury area.
Favorite Vacation Spot: This may sound strange, but at this busy time in my life I donât really think about going away on long vacations. Anything we do as a family is like a vacation.
Personal Philosophy: I try to do my best. And I do what I want to do today, because who knows what will happen tomorrow. Maybe itâs because Iâm a doctor that I realize how transient life is. I try not to do any harm to other people and to live each day to the fullest. Hug my family and say I love them.
Snapshot: LaLaine Chua Mortera