Doctor relocates from New Orleans to open new medical clinic

Dr. Dona Alba had the wind in her back when Hurricane Katrina blew her back to her family roots in Leelanau County.

Alba is glad to be where she calls "home," the place of her childhood summers.

“We came up as kids, and spent some very happy times up here,” recalled Alba.

Alba and her husband, Ted, have purchased the building that formerly housed the Cherry Pad near the corner of M-204 and Eagle Highway in Lake Leelanau from Ken and Bernadette DeNoyer. The Albas are planning to open a medical practice there under the name Provemont Family Care.

Dona Alba’s brother, Tom Dunkin, is a general contractor from Cedar who is overseeing the conversion from ice cream and tourist store to medical clinic. Expect Ted Alba, a design and mechanical engineer who has had trouble finding work in his field in the Traverse City area, to also be swinging a hammer.

For now, Ted is a cook and bartender at the Bluebird Restaurant. “He can make a mean whitefish sandwich,” said Dona.

Partly because of their familiarity with Leelanau County, the Albas have made a smooth transition from New Orleans. Alba held a faculty appointment at Louisiana State University at which she basically “taught residents to be doctors.”

But that was before Katrina, which destroyed their home and scattered the Albas and other professionals from Louisiana around the country.

“It was horrible,” said Alba. “For us, it was a terrible loss. I don’t think anybody who hasn’t been there can know. TV doesn’t tell the story.”

Leelanau County seemed like a logical next stop for the Albas, who reside in Omena. Dona Alba’s great-great-grandfather was Fred Atkinson, who built what was commonly known as the Leelanau Country Inn in past years and is now an upscale restaurant named North. The Albas were married in the Leelanau County Inn, when it was owned by John and Linda Sisson, in February 1994.

“Several generations of my mother’s family are from Leelanau County,” said Alba.

She hopes to have Provemont Family Practice opened by mid-July “or Aug. 1 at the latest.” The practice will have driveways leading to M-204 and Eagle Highway. The building is located on the north side of M-204 well back from the road.

The building, a home converted to commercial use, provides a perfect fit for a medical practice, Alba said. “It’s mostly moving interior walls, and changing some plumbing. It will take minimal work,” said Alba.

Alba holds a doctor of osteopathic medicine, having received her degree from Ohio University. Her undergraduate work was mostly completed at Miami (Ohio) University, and she formerly operated a family practice in rural southeast Ohio.

Provemont Family Practice would represent the second medical center in Lake Leelanau, which is already home to Leelanau Urgent Care Center owned by David Lemak, M.D.