Lawrence Memorial officials announced at this morning’s board of trustees meeting that Dr. William B. Weatherford has been hired to staff the family practice clinic the hospital is planning to construct. The new clinic will be built just west of First State Bank and Trust’s bank at U.S. Highway 24-40 and Laming Road.

The opportunity to join Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s start-up medical office in Tonganoxie is a dream-come-true, Weatherford said.

The 32-year-old Johnson County native is eager to return to a small-town atmosphere.

“We’re looking forward to getting to know people in the community,” he said.

Weatherford’s family roots go back 40 years in Stanley, at a time that Johnson County was more of a rural community than a suburb of the Kansas City metro. His parents now live west of Lawrence near the Stull community.

A 2000 graduate of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Weatherford is completing a three-year residency in family practice at the Goppert Family Care Center in Kansas City. He is board eligible in family practice and holds memberships in the American Academy of Family Physicians and Metropolitan Medical Society of Kansas City.

Gene Meyer, LMH president and chief executive officer, said he and the LMH board are pleased with Weatherford’s decision to practice at the Tonganoxie clinic.

“We’re excited to have attracted a physician of Dr. Weatherford’s caliber,” Meyer said. “He’s personable, enthusiastic and committed to making this clinic a success in Tonganoxie. He’s impressed everyone he’s met. I believe he and his family are a good fit for this community.”

Weatherford earned a bachelor’s degree in science education from Kansas State University in Manhattan and taught chemistry and physical science teacher at Blue Valley High School in Overland Park before deciding to enter medical school.

He said becoming was doctor was something he had considered during high school.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I thought about teaching college, and then someone reminded me I wanted to do medicine back then. I still get to teach, only in a different way.”

For 10 years, Weatherford has been a youth sponsor with the Olathe Bible Church youth group, and he has participated in mission trips to Mexico, Belarus, Russia, and the Republic of Georgia.

He and his wife, Karlye, who is a registered nurse, have a son, William, who was born in February. They are looking forward to moving to the Tonganoxie area and becoming part of the community. They plan to be on hand for Tonganoxie Days, which is scheduled for June 14.

“We wanted to come up and get to know people,” he said.

Work should begin soon on the clinic, with an anticipated September opening.