Mercy plastic surgeon LaFerriere to leave practice

Longtime Springfield facial plastic surgeon Dr. Keith LaFerriere has set a retirement date from Mercy Clinic Facial Plastic Surgery.

After over 35 years as a facial plastic surgeon in the Queen City, LaFerriere’s last day performing surgeries will be June 30, he said, noting he would likely stick around the 1965 S. Fremont Ave. practice for another three months for followup work.

“I’ve had an incredible ride,” LaFerriere, 69, said from his office yesterday. “As my mother-in-law has always said, ‘The time to leave the party is when you’re having the most fun.’ That’s kind of where I am.”

Dr. Matthew Kienstra, LaFerriere’s partner at the practice, will lead the clinic, which has had as many as 17 employees, LaFerriere said. In 2008, Kienstra joined LaFerriere, who had been practicing solo since 2000.

While LaFerriere is leaving the Mercy system, the move doesn’t mark a full retirement. He’s currently taking courses toward age management medicine and would likely set up a private practice after finishing that course of study.

“Right now, the only thing I can actually say is I’m not quitting medicine, per se, I’m just going to be coming back and going part time in a little different area of medicine,” he said. “It’s fun to help people. That’s what I’m hoping to be able to continue to do on a little less stressful basis.”[[In-content Ad]]