AUTHOR’S NOTE: Part One of this three-part story about John Fenger, Homer’s first resident physician, provided some early personal background about Fenger and a handful of his early medical experiences in Alaska.
When Dr. John Fenger glimpsed into the operatory in the old Homer Hospital Health Center one day in 1961, he witnessed an unusual tableau: Dr. Calvin Fair, a visiting dentist from Soldotna, stood over a patient, with blood evident on the dentist and on the patient’s bib and mouth. On the floor, unconscious, lay Dr. Fair’s wife, Jane, who had been assisting with the removal of a difficult, impacted wisdom tooth.