NP Lake checks in

Carey Lake is the nurse practitioner at the Medicine Bow Clinic. He is a relatively new face having taken over about three months ago. Lake is also the Hanna representative of South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) and chairman. He has lived in Hanna for a few years, but he was born and raised in Kentucky and Indiana.

"I am a hillbilly," Lake said. "I am really from the hill areas of Kentucky."

After graduating, Lake studied electronics before going into the Air Force and was stationed at Warren AFB in Cheyenne. That is how he first came to Wyoming. 

"I was there about eight years and during that time Peggy and I got married," Lake said. "We moved around quite a lot. We spent time in Europe, then back in the United States."

Lake went back to school, but not for medicine, but for law enforcement. He then went back into the military as an officer. While he was stationed in Germany, because of his degree in police administration, he was the assistant provost marshal for Nuremberg.

"It was a great job that I did for about two years and then I was a platoon leader in a town called Erlangen," Lake said. "I did that for two years and it gave me training in management."

When he got out of the military and was back in Kentucky, he decided that he wanted to get out of law enforcement and go into another field. He was an EMT and decided to get a nursing degree.

Lake said as he was getting ready to graduate from nursing school, he and his family came out to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone.

"While we were here we decided to stop by Rawlins and fill out applications at the hospital because we could take the trip off for our taxes," Lake said. "Then two or three months later Rawlings called Peggy and asked her to come out and interview. At that time she had been a nurse for better of 20 years. Peggy told them we were a package deal."

This was 26 years ago and the hospital hired the couple.

"After about a year and a half, the upper echelon of the hospital didn't really get along with me, so Peggy and I left for North Carolina," Lake said. "We were in North Carolina for a year and then moved back to Kentucky and opened up a business there. Peggy was the nurse practitioner and I was her nurse."

Lake said the office specialized in weight loss although it had medical services. The office was near Lexington.

Once his sons moved out, Lake and his wife realized the farm which had horses and fruit trees was much larger than what they needed. The Lakes decided to put no parameters on where they could move.

"Sheridan kept popping up as far as nursing jobs went," Lake said. "I couldn't help but remember my time in Rawlins, which far as the town went, I enjoyed living there. So everything started to work in having us come out here."

Lake said they sold their business surprisingly easily and his wife came out to Carbon County in 2017 and Lake followed a short time later.

They found Hanna when looking for a church. They liked the community and found a house that was not something to pass up.

"Peggy was working at Rawlins, Sinclair and the Hanna clinic and when I got my nurse-practitioner degree, the hospital used me as needed and that would sometimes be in Rawlins and sometimes Hanna," Lake said. "Wherever they needed me."

In September Lake was offered the position at the Medicine Bow Clinic.

"When Covid-19 came along we did a lot of telephone visits and Peggy and I also do a lot of home visits," Lake said. "Both of us believe in taking time to understand what a patient needs for care versus this attitude of get 'em in, get 'em out. As nurse practitioners, we look at the whole spectrum of what is going on. I do it now here in Medicine Bow."

When Lake came to the clinic, he knew there were challenges with many people's perception of how they found it lacking.

"When I first came here, we were seeing a patient about every other day," Lake said. "Now we are seeing six to nine patients a day. That makes a big difference."

Lake told the board of the clinic when they hired him, his goal was to make the facility better.

"I don't play politics and if you ask me what is on my mind, I will tell you what is on my mind," Lake said. "I am here to help people and make no apology for it."

He credits Casey Federer and Adam Baron, his two workers at the clinic with helping the health facility run well.

"I can only do so much," Lake said. "They both help me tremendously. Everything we do here is for the community. To me that is what we are here for."

Lake wants people to know that he is at the clinic to stay. There have been several faces in the past few years running the place and Lake knows the place has had a reputation for inconsistency. He wants to change that perception.

"I am not here to make decisions for the patient, I am here to help a patient make their own decisions and get them to the best medical experts when needed," Lake said. "I recommend what and where a patient needs to go and if they want to go some other place, I make it happen as best I can."

Lake is hoping to put a dentist in the office.

"My idea is to get dental care down to a price so that they will use it," Lake said. "There are a lot of people that have insurance, but can't afford dental care. Then there are plenty of people that don't even have insurance. This is a problem and I want to help people get this care."

Lake is doing his best to make the Medicine Bow Clinic into a full service health facility.

"I am willing to do what needs to be done," Lake said. "In a rural community with a health center like this, that is how we are going to be successful.