LAKEPORT, Calif. – In Dr. Gary Maes’ opinion, he served Lake County during the most unique period of family practice medicine in recent memory.

“I knew I wanted to be a family physician; that was my goal from the beginning,” said Maes. “It was exciting; for the first time, it was a specialty with prescribed training.”

When he started medical school at UCLA 43 years ago, family practice had only recently emerged as a specialty field. Maes’ path to medicine, however, did not begin as straight and narrow.

“I studied political science at Stanford,” said Maes. “After college I taught English in Indonesia to people in the medical field. My time in Bali got me interested in medicine. When I came back to the U.S., I got involved with my wife Pam, who was attending nursing school. She encouraged me in the right direction. I took premed classes for a year and started medical school three years after I graduated college.”

After a residency and 16 year tenure in Santa Rosa, Maes felt inspired to return to the rural roots of his childhood.

“I love the sense of being in the country and the mixture of folks,” said Maes. “It’s a beautiful place, and home to more diverse people. We’ve made good friends here; there’s a genuine sincerity to people. There are newcomers as well as generations of families who go back a hundred years in this county. There’s a breadth of people.”

As a small town family physician, Maes has delivered babies, watched them grow up and cared for multigenerational families.

“Getting to know people and playing a role in their lives generation after generation has been very rewarding,” said Maes. “I’ve been with my patients through many different seasons of their lives. Not many professions take you to that wide a span of life; until a few years ago, I still provided newborn care. Now most family docs are either hospitalists or have an outpatient practice. Not as many bridge that gap. I’m glad my career happened during such a rich era.”

Dr. Maes and his wife Pam will retire locally, but look forward to travelling and enjoying time with family.

“Pam and I have always worked together as doctor and nurse practitioner,” said Maes. “We’re excited to have more time together that doesn’t revolve around work. We want to see corners of California and the United States that we haven’t explored yet, and visit our sons and grandkids.”

In a town where “goodbye” usually means “see you later,” Maes offers one last piece of advice to his patients.

“Stay active; get out and exercise. Take a walk in your neighborhood every day. That’s the best medicine.”

Morgen Wells is community relations and fund development coordinator for Sutter Lakeside Hospital.