After what she describes as essentially throwing a dart at a map, Wembley’s new family physician says she has truly lucked out.
Dr. Angela Luckham, who left her practice in Hay River, Northwest Territories after her husband was offered a medevac pilot position with CanWest in Grande Prairie, says she had only been to the region once in her life before having to take the 785-kilometre leap of faith.
“We lucked into it; we really like the community and are feeling like we fit in well here, but we can’t say it was more than just picking a place on a map truthfully. [We] found Wembley, found our house online, put an offer in before we even came to see it, and moved a few weeks later.”
Not long after making the move, Dr. Luckham submitted an application to develop a standalone medical clinic. As the permit was approved earlier in May, Dr. Luckham says they are now solely focused on bringing family medicine back to those in the community.
“We came from a small town that had a real community feel in the Northwest Territories, and we feel that here in Wembley and we want to contribute to it,” she says.
She adds that she looks forward to being able to practice preventative medicine, hoping it will lead to generations of care.
“To me, this will not be a walk-in clinic; we’re not looking for band-aid solutions. I really want to work with the patients to achieve the best version of health they can.”
It’s expected the clinic will be ready to open by the middle of summer 2020.