Dr. Anthony Anozie acknowledged for contributions to community
After Dr. Anthony Anozie visited our community years ago, he decided that he wanted to stay. After learning more about the community and the needs of our residents while working as a medical doctor, he wanted people in Selkirk and the surrounding area to have access to more healthcare options close to home. After a great deal of work, Anozie succeeded in opening Easton Place creating a one-stop-shop for basic medical needs in our community. Because of the amazing contributions that Anozie has made local MLA Richard Perchotte recently recognized him in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
Perchotte said that he’s always been impressed by and honoured to know Anozie.
“His vision, dedication, and tireless energy have provided for every citizen seeking medical treatment in Selkirk. What we don’t see is the personal sacrifice that he has given to our community. Like all health care workers who give so much of themselves — the countless hours on call, the emergency cases that go beyond normal hours of work, the sleepless nights and most importantly the time away from the family that they will not get back. I do not take for granted the tremendous efforts that all health care workers give of themselves each and every day,” said Perchotte.
In his member’s statement, Perchotte specifically mentioned the journey of recruitment, design, planning and perseverance in overcoming regulatory and physical obstacles that Anozie had to go on to get to the opening of Easton Place.
Anozie’s journey has always been an interesting one, however, originally from Nigeria, he moved to Manitoba in 2000 after completing his training as a physician in the United Kingdom.
“I trained in the UK in general surgery. I came to the Interlake in 1997 and then I went to Australia for three years [and I later] started working as a general surgeon at the Selkirk hospital,” said Anozie.
He said that he chose to come to the Interlake because he had some friends who lived in the area. After coming for a visit he liked our region and decided that there were a lot of opportunities here.
He says it was about ten years ago that he first got the idea for Easton Place.
“The idea for Easton Place was to have a one-stop-shop facility for folks to access medical care,” said Anozie.
He felt that a facility like this would not only benefit those in the city of Selkirk but also was something the people in our surrounding area needed.
“We have a very rural population with long distances and it’s always very trying for folks to get to different places for different things. It can be very tiring and frustrating for patients to go somewhere to see their specialist, somewhere to see their family doctor, and somewhere to see a pharmacist. It just gets very frustrating,” said Anozie.
Easton Place is a facility that Anozie feels compliments what the local health authority is doing in the region but also gives people options closer to home. As our population is living longer, having options that allow residents to go to one place that is close to home is something that helps to keep people in our communities longer.
He was happy to be acknowledged by Perchotte.
“It’s a real honour. I wasn’t expecting this, honestly but it’s very, very rewarding to know that your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed,” said Anozie.
Looking back he didn’t realize what he was creating when he first had the idea for Easton Place.
“The best part has been the reaction from the population. They appreciate what I’m doing and they like the facility. With the doctors here, I hope that we can have more doctors and have more services,” said Anozie.
As for the future, Anozie is hoping that his efforts in our region can help to support healthcare not just locally but that this can translate to also supporting people’s health care needs in Africa.
“I look forward to having this as a foundation so that it goes forward for years to come we can support various charities and healthcare both here and abroad,” he said.
Anozie also wants to thank the many community members who have supported the facility.
“Thank you, folks, for supporting the facility and hopefully, it’ll carry on for many years,” he said.
