Biography:

Dr. John Christopher Payne was born on the 31st of March, 1948.  Dr. Payne was the 2nd of 4 sons born to Dr. Lloyd George Payne and Dorothy Elizabeth (Webster) Payne.  His brothers are William, Tom and Robert.  Dr. Payne’s father was a well-respected family physician in Dresden.  Dr. John Payne grew up in Dresden, Ontario and attended Dresden Public School and Lambton-Kent District High School.  Dr. Payne went on to receive a B.A. in Zoology in 1969, his M.D. in 1974 and his Masters of Clinical Science in Family Medicine in 1992, all from the University of Western Ontario (U.W.O.) in London, Ontario.  Dr. Payne also received his Certificate and Fellowship from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

While attending the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Payne met his future wife Dianne Kuhn.  Mrs. Payne was studying biology at the University of Western Ontario.  She grew up in London and attended Wortley Road Public School and South Secondary School.  Mrs. Payne received an Honors Bachelors of Science degree in Biology in 1970 and Dr. and Mrs. Payne were married in 1970.  Mrs. Payne worked as a Cytogenetics Technologist at Victoria Hospital in London, from 1970 until 1976.  Her work involved culturing cells and doing human chromosomal analyses as well as analyses of tumor cell chromosomes.

In 1976 Dr. and Mrs. Payne moved to Dresden, where Dr. Payne set up his family medical practice.  (Dr. Payne’s father had died in 1975).  Dr. John Payne had a comprehensive family medical practice including a busy office, nursing homes, and inpatient care at the Public General Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham and then the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, when the hospitals amalgamated.  This included obstetrics, surgical assists and seeing his patients in the emergency department.  Dr. Payne was Chief of the Department of Family Practice at the Public General Hospital from 1980 to 1981.

Dr. Payne and his family moved to London from 1986 to 1987 where he worked at the Victoria Family Medical Centre teaching Family Medicine for the U.W.O. as a Temporary Assistant Professor with admitting privileges at Victoria Hospital including obstetrics.  Dr. Payne returned to his family practice in Dresden in 1987.

Dr. Payne was a member of the Kent County District Health Council from 1988-1989.  He was the Chairman of the Medical Quality and Utilization Committee from 1995-1997 and from 2001-2003.  From 2001-2006, Dr. Payne was a member of the Liason Committee of the Thames Valley Family Practice Research Unit, part of the Centre For Studies in Family Medicine at U.W.O.  From 2004-2010, Dr. Payne was the Organizer and Lead Physician of the Maple City Family Health Group which involved 24 family physicians in multiple sites in Chatham-Kent.  Between 2010 and 2015, Dr. Payne joined the Chatham-Kent Family Health Team and supported the construction of the Dresden Community Healthcare Centre.  He was an Adjunct Professor for the Department of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine from 2010-2016 teaching medical students and residents in his practice.  In November 2012, Dr. Payne moved to the new Dresden Community Healthcare Centre.  The Town of Dresden and the Chatham-Kent Family Heath Team were able to recruit two new family physicians, the first new doctors in Dresden in 27 years.

Dr. Payne is the author of a number of articles that have appeared in medical publications.

Dr. and Mrs. Payne are the proud parents of a son, Benjamin Christopher Payne.  Benjamin received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Toronto in 2000.   Further, he received his Bachelor of Education in 2001 (Visual Arts and Environmental Science) from the University of Western Ontario.  In 2003 he graduated from the University of Toronto, Honors Specialist for Visual Arts.   He is currently a secondary school teacher in the Toronto area.

Dr. Payne retired from full time practice on the 30th of April, 2015.

*Dr. Payne’s father, Dr. Lloyd George Payne is also featured on the Chatham-Kent Physician Tribute website.