Dr. LaFlair and Dr. LaFlair set up practice together. As North Country
natives, Tracy Sanderson LaFlair ’92 and Christopher LaFlair ’92
always wanted to live in the North Country, especially on the St.
Lawrence River. They got their wish; Tracy, a family-practice doctor,
and Chris, a dentist, have a home on the river and share
office space in their own building in Ogdensburg.
Chris admits to some nervousness about setting up his own dental practice in
the region. “I talked to some of the dentists in the area, who said there
was a need,” he says. “Most new doctors don't expect to have a full
patient load for at least five years,” Tracy notes. “After two years,
I had a full load.”
Tracy doubled-majored in biology and chemistry and
Chris majored in biology; both attended SUNY Stony Brook for
their medical education. Both
earned academic honors while attending St. Lawrence.
The
LaFlairs both say that living in the area has lots of advantages,
including the fact that since they share a building, they can often
schedule their time to have lunch together. Their daughter, Lexi,
6, and son, Luc, 4, are involved in figure-skating and hockey, respectively,
which means that Chris and Tracy are out and about a lot.
Asked if
setting up practices in the area has posed any challenges, Chris
says that for them, the challenges would be found elsewhere. “With
our families here, it’s been easy,” he notes. Tracy says
that for her, the only challenge has been keeping up with the workload. “But
other than that, it's
a great place to live, work and raise a family. We have a very
well-equipped hospital here.”
“We try not to overschedule, so we can take our time with our
patients,” Chris adds. “That's important to us. We don't
want anybody to feel rushed. Personal attention makes all the
difference. That was true for us when we were students at St. Lawrence,
although we didn't realize it at the time.”
