She thought she had her dream job after medical school, working in a hospital, allowing her warm bedside manner to comfort patients like a heating pad.

That’s what Dr. Jennifer MacKenzie had always wanted, ever since she played on medical equipment as a kid at Elliot Hospital in Manchester – climbing up and down on the X-ray machine – while her mother attended to business as a radiation therapist.

MacKenzie, board certified in family medicine, wanted to be part of a team. She wanted to be close to home, in Pembroke. She had already spent three years of her residency at nearby Concord Hospital, finishing in 2021. She said she was comfortable there. She said she loved it.

Concord Hospital, she figured, was the perfect fit. Or so it seemed.

“It sounded great,” MacKenzie said in the coffee area at her soon-to-open private practice. “To do it made sense. I thought a few years would go by and then I’ll reevaluate. Maybe something else would be out there, or this will be my permanent home because I love it.”

These days, the good doctor, continues to work at Concord Hospital. Soon, though, she’ll open her own practice, part of a changing-of-the-guard procedure in the Suncook Valley.

MacKenzie, 30, will open her practice on Dec. 1. Dr. Steven Kaitz, 64, is retiring at the end of November after 25 years working at the old, quaint brick building on Glass Street. Soon to be MacKenzie’s office.

Kaitz cared for generations of people, got to know them, saw them grow and change. That, MacKenzie realized, was what she wanted. Create close relationships, and have the time to foster them.

“I took over a panel of almost 1,600 patients from the doctor before me, assigned as their primary care physician,” MacKenzie said. “And that is a low number. That’s why I’m leaving. This is everywhere.”

The coronavirus pandemic and its widespread effects overwhelmed medical professionals across the country during the past two years. The chaos in hospital waiting rooms, packed with worried people desperate for attention, remained in high gear, creating long hours and high-stress levels.

Enter Dr. Kaitz. He served as a preceptor at Concord Hospital for 25 years, working with MacKenzie during her three-year residency at the hospital. “Teaching them what they did right and what they did wrong,” Kaitz said.

He knew doctors and nurses nationwide were suffering from burnout. He had heard MacKenzie express interest in venturing out on her own. He himself was retiring. The timing was perfect.

Said MacKenzie, referring to being her own boss, “It’s always kind of been a little bit in the back of my mind.”

One piece of her support system besides family has been her fellow medical school graduates, who she says are now lifelong friends.

“We still talk pretty much daily on our group chat,” MacKenzie said. “We put messages out, mostly clinical questions like, ‘What would you do with this patient.’ You’re in your second year out of residency and you don’t know everything. Sometimes, you want to run questions by other people.”

MacKenzie’s dream of becoming a doctor, born from the days when she turned medical equipment into Jungle Gyms, will soon change dramatically. MacKenzie will be the boss, in a much calmer climate.

She’s led before. She captained the Pembroke Academy cheer team to the state championship. Her tunnel vision to become a doctor has been passionate since her school days. She says she’s structured, organized and efficient.

Her new office is Kaitz’s old office. They discussed strategy for the future, figuring that a turnkey operation was the way to go, not starting from scratch somewhere else.

“We already have the patients, staff, building, electronic medical records, vendors,” Kaitz said.

Meanwhile, the building on Glass Street, built in the 19th century, around the time of the Civil War, has a historic look that enhances the visit.

Inside, however, was another matter. The carpeting, paint job, floors, virtually everything needed some TLC after 25 years. There are new countertops, and new exam tables are on the list as well.

And a new doctor, beginning Dec. 1.

“When I was taking over, I knew I was going to have to update,” MacKenzie said, “to get a more modern feel and a homey feel and kind of make it my own.

“It was just time for an update.”

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