Elk Point welcomes Doctor Ashaolu

Meet and eat

August 24, 5:00 p.m. at the EcoCentre – there’s your invitation from the Town of Elk Point to enjoy a barbecue and meet Dr. Adenike Ashaolu.

Doctor Ashaolu joins clinic in Elk Point

Dr. Adenike Ashaolu has been in Elk Point since May as a third doctor, joining a team that provides health care for clients from Elk Point to Fishing Lake and everywhere between.

She provides the option of a female doctor for clients of the clinics.

She will complete a supervised period at the beginning of August, then will be in full practice.

Having spent some time in Westlock, Winnipeg, and Brampton since arriving in Canada from Lagos, Nigeria in September 2017, Dr. Ashaolu has chosen Elk Point as the place to set up her medical practice and, with her husband, continue to raise their three children.

“When I applied, I looked around at different places and had a lot of good reviews about a small community. Elk Point has lovely countryside, an easy, laidback kind of life with just enough proximity to the big city in case you need to escape.”

She grew up in a small community where ‘Everybody knew everybody else,’ so she is used to stopping to visit as she walks downtown.

The Town of Elk Point provided some incentives, but a big attraction was Dr. Oyebode, also from Nigeria.

He and his wife have been in Elk Point for about 15 years, and Dr. Ashaolu said if he likes it, then Elk Point “must have lovely people who would make me feel welcome.”

In terms of experience, Dr. Ashaolu has been practicing family medicine since 2001.

In Nigeria, she had reached the top of her profession, but Canada has better opportunities to “take my career to the next level” and to “expose my children to being citizens of the world.”

Elk Point’s CAO and member of the Physician Recruitment Team, Ken Gwozdz, says the town is “very happy, very pleased, very excited,” with Dr. Ashaolu’s decision.

Getting another doctor has been a long process, says Gwozdz. It has taken about 18 months, involving Alberta Health Services (AHS), a committee of health care professionals, a director for physicians, the local doctors, and the municipalities. Certification requirements and immigration procedures have contributed to the delay.

While having three doctors is a good sign, the service area is large so the physician recruitment committee will continue to look for a fourth doctor.