October 19, 2023
Dr. Ivery is a family physician in Wake Forest, NC, and she recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of opening Avance Care North Wake Forest to provide community-focused, comprehensive care.
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Dr. Ivery decided to practice medicine because at an early age she saw how other people needed physicians: “One of our neighbors had a horrible accident in our front yard and I wanted to help him but didn’t know how,” she says. “And I thought, I just need to be a doctor so I can help people. I’ve been focused on that ever since.”
She grew up in Wilmington but left the state to complete her residency training in Baltimore, where she stayed for several years afterwards to practice as a family physician. But in 1994, Dr. Ivery and her family moved to Oxford, NC, where she practiced for 10 years before she moved to practice at Novant Health in Wake Forest. “I worked there for nine years,” Dr. Ivery says. “And then I opened my own practice.”
Just like she decided to become a physician because she needed to help people, Dr. Ivery decided to open Avance Care North Wake Forest because it was the way she could best serve her community at that point in her life. “It felt like it was time,” she says. “I’d come to the back 10 or 15 years of my career, and I felt like I wanted to do more.”
Once the clinic opened on Oct. 3, 2022, Dr. Ivery’s day-to-day work increased and changed at the same time. “It’s been hard work going from being an employee to being the owner,” she says. “The first year of any business will be hard work. But I wouldn’t do anything differently. I have an amazing team and great patients, which was a blessing.”
“And we’ve worked really hard to be involved with our community so that patients know we’re here for them.” Her practice has put on several community events with other local sponsors, including vaccination drives, blood pressure testing, and other wellness screening for the people who live and work in the area. “We’ve done a lot of different activities with our sponsors,” Dr. Ivery says.
Opening their doors to Wake Forest and the surrounding areas, the clinic’s staff offered giveaways, face-painting, a juice bar, consultations with a local physical therapist, flu vaccinations, and a blood drive. “It was very community-focused,” Dr. Ivery says. “We had a lot of foot traffic and gave lots of health and wellness. It really was a great event.”
What her practice can keep giving to its patients is top of mind for Dr. Ivery. “It’s comprehensive care, because it has to be,” she says. “We care for patients from birth all the way up, but we also have an allergy clinic, behavioral health, and nutrition. The more you can do in one stop, the better. I’m really trying to make sure that my clinic is more comprehensive and can better give our patients what they need.”