
Dr Geoffrey Appleton
Retired Physician and former Northwest Medical Director for the Northern Health Authority
Originally hailing from England, Dr Geoffrey Appleton has dedicated much of his professional career rallying for and supporting rural physicians. Arriving in Terrace, BC on our northern coast in 1974, Dr Appleton figured he’d give this small town a whirl for a few years. Well, 43 years later he’s still there. For 41 of those years Dr Appleton provided full service family practice – that for many years included obstetrics – to the residents of Terrace.
Even though he has now retired from family practice, Dr Appleton is still very much involved in patient care, rural issues, and making a difference. Dr Appleton began his Doctors of BC career in 1985 representing the Skeena district – and for the next 25 years dedicated much time to the Association in many different capacities. He rose up through the ranks – as it used to be done – first as Board Delegate for a number of years, then Honorary Secretary Treasurer, Chair of the General Assembly, until becoming the Association’s president in 2007 - 2008.
Dr Appleton has a keen appreciation of both the challenges and the benefits of practicing in rural British Columbia. He held a number of key positions that included: Chair of the Rural Physicians Committee, Chair of the Northern Isolation Committee, Member of the Provincial Coordinating Committee on Rural and Remote Health Services, Member of the Interview Panel for the Rural Locum Program and Member of the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues.
Dr Appleton was the Northwest medical Director for Northern health for 7 years followed by 2 years as the Physician Lead for the Northwest Division of Family Practice until September 2018.
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