Bonduel has been and always will be home for Julie Bonnin.
Now the newest doctor at the Aurora Care Center in Bonduel hopes to make home a little more comfortable for the people who watched her grow up. Bonnin, a family practice physician, has stayed fairly close to her hometown since getting into medical school and starting a family, but she loves the idea of being the person responsible for her neighbors’ good health.
“My husband and I always wanted to come back because of the relationships we had with our grandparents growing up,” Bonnin said. “Since we were both from Bonduel, it was really nice for us to come home. We wanted to know that our kids would have the opportunity to know their grandparents and great-grandparents.”
Bonnin spent 10 years practicing with ThedaCare in Shawano, but it still was not home for her and her husband, despite them being only a few miles west of where they grew up. She decided to switch to Aurora so she could see family or be at her children’s school on a moment’s notice.
“It was really neat for me to come and be a doctor in my hometown,” Bonnin said.
Before she could accept the Bonduel position in April, she had to spend 18 months working at an Aurora clinic in Green Bay due to a non-compete clause in her agreement with ThedaCare. Prior to starting in Shawano 11 years ago, Bonnin had received training at the University of Iowa’s Mercy Family Medicine program.
Bonnin received her medical degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
Bonnin knows she has big shoes to fill. Growing up in Bonduel, the village had two quality physicians — Dr. Pat Stuff and husband Dr. William Grover. Both passed away, leaving the community without a physician for many years.
“I just felt that this is a great community filled with great people, and they deserve good health care,” Bonnin said. “They’re the ones who contributed to my initial education growing up.”
Aurora, which opened the local clinic in 2009, created the position specifically for Bonnin, replacing a nurse practitioner with a doctor. Bonnin noted that the Bonduel clinic’s close proximity to busy state Highway 29 was a good reason to have a health care provider with an M.D. at the end of her name.
“Nurse practitioners do a really great job with wellness, health education and straightforward medical problems,” Bonnin said. “As patients become more complicated — and sometimes that comes with becoming more elderly — they collect more disease processes and a bigger list of medications, so physicians can provide a little bit better oversight to the complicated care people need.”
Bonnin’s practice is not limited to those within the village. Shawano resident Nancy Moser has eagerly embraced Bonnin’s return to the area, as Bonnin has been her doctor for nine years.
During the 18-month absence while Bonnin was in Green Bay, Moser tried seeing other physicians , but it wasn’t the same as having someone familiar with her health needs. Also, Bonnin’s personality was warm and caring, which prompted Moser to travel to Bonduel once her doctor had returned home.
“She left to go to Green Bay, and I waited for her to come back,” Moser said. “I love her. She is just so sweet, and she is always there for you when you call.”
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