FAREWELL TO THE DOCTOR

Above, Encinitas Deputy Mayor Dan Dalager, right, joined 300 community members, patients, friends, fellow physicians and well-wishers June 27, at the retirement celebration and tribute for Dr. Dwight Cook, who has decided to retire at 81. Representatives from the city of Encinitas, city of Solana Beach, city of Carlsbad, County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price’s office and Congressman Brian Bilbray’s office were on hand with proclamations and tributes for the longtime physician who helped to pioneer health care in North County starting in the late 1950s. In 1959, Cook joined fellow physician, Charlie Clark, in a family practice, on 2nd Street in Encinitas. In 1963, Cook, Clark and Ron Summers spearheaded construction of what was then Encinitas Convalescent Hospital (later shortened to Encinitas Hospital, purchased by Scripps Health in 1978). Cook has cared for tens of thousands of North County patients – some spanning four generations of the same family. He is the last of the three hospital co-founders to retire, giving him time to spend with wife Sandy and pursue tennis, deep sea and fly fishing, backpacking and flying airplanes. Courtesy photo