Dr. Joshua Wolfe Finds a Practice and Some Elbow Room in Texas County

Joshua Wolfe, MD

                 For the past year, Dr. Joshua Wolfe and his wife, Melissa, have been talking with their boys about a water tower painted like a baseball. 

                Licking’s iconic water tower was an easy way for Nathanael, age 6; Peter, age 4, and Timothy, age 2, to find a memorable association with their soon-to-be “home”, and the town where their dad would take on the role of community physician at the Texas County Memorial Hospital Family Clinic on Main Street in Licking.

                “TCMH provided a unique mix of geographic location, call group and hospital services for a physician looking to practice full-spectrum family medicine,” Josh Wolfe, explained. 

                Wolfe grew up “half-naked and barefoot” playing in the woods and creeks in East Tennessee.  When he was older, he moved with his family to Colorado where he was also able to enjoy the great outdoors.

                After completing high school, Wolfe attended the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  In college Wolfe studied a broad spectrum of topics without a specific end in mind at first.

                “I enjoyed history, mechanics and science,” Wolfe explained, “And I knew I wanted to be useful and support myself.”

                Wolfe worked as a paramedic for the Black Forest Fire and Rescue, and he enjoyed the health-related aspect of providing care for others. 

                “I found myself wanting to dig deeper in the health field, and after a specific conversation with my father, I decided to pursue the field of medicine,” Wolfe said.  He completed a degree in biology at the university.

                After college, Wolfe took a year off from college and spent time learning Spanish and working in Mexico. 

Wolfe’s Spanish-speaking skills came in handy in medical school at the University of Colorado in Denver where he volunteered at Clinica Tepeyac, a primary care clinic for uninsured Spanish-speaking patients in the Denver area. 

While in medical school, Josh and Melissa also welcomed sons, Nathanael and Peter, to their family. 

“In medical school I had the opportunity to do rotations in surgery, obstetrics and family medicine, and I enjoyed seeing all aspects of medical care,” Joshua Wolfe said.

“All aspects” became Wolfe’s focus at North Colorado Family Medicine Residency program in Greeley where Wolfe received training to become the “do it all” physician taking care of a whole community.

Residents at North Colorado Family Medicine begin doing Cesarean sections in their first year of residency, and obstetrical care is an important part of the training the residents receive.

“In medicine, there are many aspects that grip your attention,” Wolfe explained, “But I want to see men, women and children of all ages because each presents its own set of unique challenges.”

While in residency, the Wolfe family grew again.  They welcomed Timothy and most recently, John, in April of this year.

As parents, the Wolfe’s agreed that they wanted to raise their boys “half-naked and barefoot” in places where they had lots of space and fresh air.  It was with thoughts of a little elbow room and a place to call their own that Josh and Melissa began thinking about a place to call home after Josh completed residency.

                Family members had moved away from Colorado and were spread out across the US and even out of the country.  The cost of property and water rights issues in Colorado were also concerns of Josh and Melissa.

                “We began to cast the net wider, looking at different opportunities in places like Kentucky and Missouri,” Wolfe said.

                There were several draws to this area.  Family members are scattered across the Midwest.  Melissa Wolfe spent part of her childhood in Warrensburg, MO.  The four-season climate appealed to the Wolfe’s, too.

                Josh and Melissa visited TCMH in June 2012 and found the practice, the elbow room, and the type of community they were looking for.

                “The physician group seems to work very well together, and there’s a supportive administrative team at TCMH,” Wolfe said, describing employment by TCMH as “very unique opportunity for a new physician”.

TCMH has had a clinic in Licking since the 1990’s, and Dr. Eugene Honeywell was the longtime physician anchor of the clinic until his recent death.  Wolfe will join Kimberly Olving, PA and  Jeff Blue, PA in providing family medicine care at the clinic.  With his training in obstetrics, Wolfe will also provide prenatal and postnatal care as part of his practice—the first time obstetrical care has been available in Licking for many years.

Wolfe is also providing an obstetrics clinic at the TCMH Medical Complex in Houston on Fridays to help out while TCMH is recruiting a full-time family medicine physician/obstetrician for the clinic.  Dr. Jonathan Beers, an internal medicine physician based at the TCMH Medical Complex in Houston, will continue to provide internal medicine care at the Licking clinic on Fridays when Wolfe is in Houston.

Wolfe began seeing patients at the clinic on Monday, and he’s already seeing new patients as well as established patients.

“I have an opportunity to serve an entire community and have the support of a whole hospital,” Wolfe said about the practice.

In addition to an ideal practice opportunity, the Wolfe’s found the elbow room they were looking for with the purchase of a small farm between Licking and Houston.

“We hope to put in a large garden, and get some animals,” Wolfe said.  The family’s alpacas have found their way from Colorado to their new home in Missouri.

Wolfe also enjoys working with hands and doing building projects in his spare time.  Their new home is a “fixer upper” that he has been working on.

Melissa is a stay at home mom, and she also teaches the older boys at home.

Everyone in the family enjoys baseball.  Wolfe grew up rooting for the Chicago Cubs then later for the Colorado Rockies.  He’s looking forward to following the Saint Louis Cardinals.

“I guess you could say that I’m an unabashed National League baseball fan,” Wolfe said with a laugh when he was told by others that Texas County was “Cardinals country”.

No matter what the team on the field, Wolfe and his family are happy to have found a practice and a home in Licking—the town with the baseball water tower.

                For additional information about Joshua Wolfe, MD, contact the TCMH Family Clinic in Licking at (573) 674-3011 or at the TCMH Medical Complex in Houston at (417) 967-5639.

Dr. Joshua and Melissa Wolfe and their 3 oldest boys–Nathanael, Peter & Timothy.