Residency Team

Marianna Worczak, MD                                                            
Program Director and DIO

Marianna is a native of Western New York. She has been a fan of the North Country and Adirondacks since her undergraduate studies at Clarkson University. She received her medical degree from the University of Miami and completed her residency at UVM. Following residency she practiced in Olean, NY before being recruited as faculty and later becoming PD. So far she has loved teaching and helping to grow the residency program in Plattsburgh. Her professional interests include both inpatient and outpatient medicine, women’s health, and addiction medicine. She is a competitive runner enjoying distances from 5K’s to Marathons. She also enjoys being active in the Adirondacks, baking, keeping active in her Catholic faith, and spending time with her husband and family!

Maegan Cabrera, MD                                                            
Associate Program Director 

Maegan is a North Country native, having been raised in Champlain, N.Y. She studied Physiology and received her undergraduate degree from McGill University in Montreal. She spent time in both Syracuse and Binghamton while obtaining her medical education from SUNY Upstate Medical School. Most recently, she completed her residency in Family Medicine at Albany Medical Center.

She is grateful for the opportunity to live and work back in her hometown, and especially enjoys outdoor activities with her family throughout all 4 seasons. Clinical interests include nutrition, obesity medicine, motivational interviewing, and women's health.

Aubrey Wheeler, MD                                                            
Associate Program Director

Aubrey is a Texas native, moving to Plattsburgh in 2020 from Germany after serving 12 years in the United States Air Force as a Family Physician. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biology and Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, and completed her training in Family Medicine at the St Louis University School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency in Belleville, Illinois. She loves the strong physician-patient/community connections and breadth of family medicine and is especially interested in preventive medicine, nutrition, and migraine care. She is honored to have the opportunity to be involved in medical education and learns as much from the residents as she teaches. Her interests outside of medicine include spending time with her family (husband and 3 young children), cooking (plant-based recipes mostly, but also baking to satisfy a strong sweet tooth), watercolor, gardening, and skiing (downhill and cross country).

Julia Marsala, MD
Core Faculty

Julia is joining the CVPH residency as an FM-OB provider. While originally from Trenton, Ontario, she grew up in State College, Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences and Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, then attended Penn State for medical school. She completed her family medicine residency training at UVM in Burlington, VT, and then spent a year in Greensboro, NC doing a surgical obstetrics fellowship. She is thrilled to return north again and to be close to family and friends. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, hiking, watching/playing hockey (go Leafs!), skiing, and trying her hand at gardening.

Lindsey Wilhelm, DO, MPH                                                            
Faculty

Lindsey graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine where she earned her medical degree as well as a Masters in Public Health. She completed her family medicine residency training at Albany Medical Center. She directs both the Osteopathic Medicine Curriculum and the Wilderness Medicine Elective. 

She has a special interest in women’s health, family planning, preventative medicine, osteopathic manipulation, pediatrics, dermatology, nutrition, physician wellness and wilderness medicine. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 children, exploring the Adirondack Mountains, gardening and trying to keep up with her kids while skiing at Whiteface Mountain.

John G. King, MD, MPH
Faculty

Associate Dean for Continuing Interprofessional Medical Education at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

John is a Professor of Family Medicine and was involved in the development of the Family Medicine Residency Program at UVMHN Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital.  He previously held the position of Residency Program Director at the UVMMC Department of Family Medicine. John grew up in Manlius, NY outside of Syracuse. After attending college at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Medical School at the University Of Rochester School Of Medicine, he completed his Family Medicine Residency at Duke University.He later completed a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He spent several years practicing in rural upstate NY and was Associate Residency Director at the Virginia Commonwealth University Hanover program before settling in Vermont. John’s academic interests include evidence informed care, risk communication and shared decision making and population health. He holds certificates of added qualification in Geriatric and Sports Medicine and remains active in hospital medicine. John is married with three children and enjoys anything that slides on snow or has two wheels, with particular fondness for telemark skiing and off-road triathlon.

Aura Cernii, MD
Core Faculty

Dr. Cernii is board certified in Internal medicine. She has a passion for inpatient medicine and after being a hospitalist for several years at CVPH, she was pleased to join the family medicine residency program as one of the core-teaching faculty on the inpatient service. She is honored to have the ability to contribute to the creation of an excellent service and make a difference where it matters the most.

Letitia Lim, MD
Core Faculty

The Family Medicine Residency at CVPH was what convinced Dr. Lim to take a position with the hospitalist team here. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and after completing her residency, she was aiming for a career in hospitalist medicine at a center with educational programs. We welcomed her into our faculty in April of this year as one of our full-time inpatient attendings. Beyond the walls of the hospital, she enjoys travelling and experiencing different cultures and cuisine. She also enjoys a variety of outdoor activities. After all her travels, she believes that Lake Champlain is one of the more naturally beautiful places to live.

Kathleen Freeman, C-TAGME, CRA, RDCS, FASE, RT
Residency Program Administrator

Kathleen was born and raised in Cadyville, NY, one of seven children in a large Irish family. Kathleen' career began at CVPH's School of Radiologic Technology in 1979. At the age of 20, she moved to sunny Southern California where she stayed for five years before returning to CVPH and the North Country to be closer to her family, friends and the mountains she calls home.

Kathleen has always loved project management and has a long history of Healthcare Administration in Radiology and Cardiology. During her career, she successfully launched multiple projects from the ground up, including multiple Echo Labs in both NY and Vermont and he startup and Directorship of a multi-million dollar, full service Medical Imaging Center. She also organized an Alzheimer’s Benefit called the “Ride to Remember”, in memory of her Mom (now in its 15th year) with all proceeds staying in our community. Kathleen earned her certification as a Radiology Administrator and also became a Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography. Kathleen was happy to return to CVPH in 2015 to take on the new challenge of helping CVPH start it's first residency program.  She loves the challenge and variety that the Family Medicine Residency Program offers. She earned her C-TAGME certification in 2020 and was the first person at CVPH to do so.

As much as she loves her career, family is most important to her.  She has been married to her husband Pat for thirty-two plus years. They have been blessed with two grown children and a granddaughter. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, shopping trips with her sisters, gardening and riding her Harley.

Heather Lacey
Residency Coordinator

Heather is a native of Plattsburgh NY and has worked for CVPH for 24 years. Throughout her career at CVPH she has had many accomplishments which include her various roles in the Dialysis Unit as the Coordinator for a National Research Project for Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns a vital role in the Diabetes Center at CVPH since its inception in 2008, and managing the Diabetes Support Group.  For the past 5 years, Heather has worked at the Family Medicine Center as Office Coordinator. Heather has always had a passion for helping people and for finding solutions.  Her proven ability to manage many tasks led her to accept the position of Coordinator for the Family Medicine Residency Program.

Although Heather is passionate about her career her biggest accomplishment is her family. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Jason for 15 years and their 2 children: Jace 13 and Jaelynn 10. When she isn’t watching her kids hockey, baseball or gymnastics you can find her working on home improvements and spending valuable time with her family.