By Karen Garcia
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Dr. Nathan Lukes, who presently runs a private general dentistry practice in Anchorage, is expanding to serve Girdwood, filling the recent void left by the departure of Dr. Joe Harmon, who provided local dental service for 28 years.
Lukes, 38, who also lives in Girdwood, will run a family practice in the valley with the goal of providing general dental care.
Lukes does minimal cosmetic work, and considers himself to be more of a traditional dentist.
His clinic will be located across the street from World Cup Sports on Hightower Road, next to the Girdwood Clinic.
He decided against renting space in a building next to the Silver Tip Grill, where the Girdwood Clinic was previously located, and instead, will construct a new building for his practice. However, acquiring the necessary building permits has taken longer than expected, delaying the ground breaking.
“I wish I had a good time table, but these guys are kind of taking longer than I had hoped,” Lukes said. “I wish I could say ‘Yeah, I’m going to open December 10 at 4:30’ or something, but that’s still probably a little premature.”
Lukes said he hopes to have the clinic open by Christmas, but that is the best case scenario.
“If they miss the window and these guys can’t get permits in time, then it pushes it all back to next year,” he said. “Right now I’m just meeting with architects and trying to finish up a design. I think we have a floor plan done and now we have to take it to the architects to get it all engineered, and I’m waiting for a contractor to get back to me with some bids.”
When the building is eventually constructed, Lukes said he plans to have his clinic open one or two days a week based on need.
“I live in Girdwood, so I’d like to practice close to my home,” he said. “But I don’t think Girdwood can support a full-time dentist, so I’m thinking of working one or two days a week down here. I hope to be able to rent out other space in the building to an orthodontist or a pediatric dentist.”
Lukes was originally planning on erecting a 2,000 square-foot building, but contractors informed him that it would not be that much more expensive to invest in adding a second floor of offices to sublet to other professionals; so he’s exploring that option.
If Lukes does choose to sublet the additional building space, the clinic might be open, in some capacity or another, for four days a week.
“If a kid needed sedation, I would refer him out,” Lukes said. “But if there is somebody who wants to come out here to use my space and do that service, that would be wonderful. It would save people the time of driving into town.”
Lukes’ existing practice is located on Arctic Blvd. in mid-town Anchorage, and will continue to operate in addition to the Girdwood location.
He currently works with a dental hygienist and three support staff, and depending on how much need there is in Girdwood, he may hire an associate for the Anchorage office.
As far as his background, Lukes grew up in western Washington near the Bellingham area. He attended dental school in Seattle at the University of Washington, and after graduating moved to Bethel, Alaska in 1998.
In 2003, he moved to Anchorage, where he bought an existing practice. Lukes moved his family to Girdwood about two years ago, and ended up liking it so much that he decided to get a satellite practice going down here.
“I like the small town a lot better,” he said. “Anchorage was kind of a compromise. My wife really wanted to get out of Bethel, and there was a job opportunity here.”
One of the things Lukes likes about Anchorage is that he still gets to work at the Alaska Native Medical Center, where he is a part-time staffer with the Indian Health Service. He works there four days a month.
Lukes is married and has four daughters. He loves to ski, and taught skiing all through his college career.
“I love the outdoors. I love living in Girdwood and skiing and being close to the hiking and what not.”
If everything (including permits, contractors, etc.) comes together in a timely fashion, Lukes’ construction is expected to begin on his building by September.