Dr. Remi Oyedeji had already practised family medicine in Nigeria when he moved to Dawson Creek in 2016. He took over a practice at Dawson Creek Medical Clinic and cared for patients in the hospital’s emergency department, on its inpatient wards and in local long-term care. He also taught UBC medical students during their rural family medicine rotations.
Dawson Creek named him its 2020 Citizen of the Year. His nomination recognized the care he provided as a family physician and his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a 2021 Northern Health profile, Dr. Oyedeji recalled what made the community feel welcoming to him. “When you walk by someone on the street, they don’t look past you—they actually see you.”
Away from medicine, photography was another way he got to know the area. He would head out on foot or by bike in the early morning or evening, camera in hand, to catch the light around town and in the surrounding countryside.
Dr. Oyedeji went on to serve four years as chief of staff at Dawson Creek & District Hospital. When he stepped down in 2026, Northern Health credited his leadership with helping stabilize the hospital through staffing shortages and disruptions to services.