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06/29/2016 08:30 AMFor his decades of continued dedicated service to countless Branford families in his care, Dr. Gary Wanerka, MD recently received a very special “thank you.”
On June 12, Gary was invited to join a celebration of the grand opening of Branford Early Learning Center’s (BELC) beautiful new playground, where he was surprised and honored to receive a Town of Branford Distinguished Service Award, presented by First Selectman James B. Cosgrove.
Board Certified in Allergy & Immunology and Pediatrics, Gary, a Long Island, NY native turned long-time Branford resident, received his Pediatric and Allergy Training at Yale in the late 1960s. Gary’s many years of lending important pediatric, allergy and immunology expertise to local families began in earnest when he founded Branford Pediatrics and Allergy in 1982.
But his experience goes back many more years than that. Gary completed his pediatric training from 1966 to 1970 at Yale (while his wife of now 49 years, Christine, taught English at a junior high school in Hamden). Being in medical school during the Vietnam era also meant an immediate future serving with the U.S. Armed Forces for Gary.
“Everybody who was in medical school at that time was told they could count on being in the military,” he says. “I was fortunate enough to be fully trained as a pediatrician and to be stationed in Germany. Most of the medical officers at the base were just of out of training and at the top of their skills.”
After four years, the Wanerkas returned to Connecticut. Gary took up practicing as a New Haven-area pediatrician in 1974.
“Because of my interest in allergy, I became board certified in about 1978 in allergy and immunology,” says Gary.
Gary went on to become one of the first pediatricians practicing in a new type of group, an HMO (CHCP) located on Long Wharf in New Haven, in the 1970s.
“It was way ahead of its time—an HMO with walls,” he says. “I had a nice time there, but I had this urge to have my own practice. So I went into practice with another doctor in Branford from 1978 to 1982; then I started Branford Pediatrics and Allergy. I started that practice as a single doctor. I was on every night for a year!”
From the start, Gary set up his practice to be accepting of all, without differentiating between Medicaid patients and others.
“It’s important to make people know that you really do care and that you can be kind and accepting,” says Gary.
The practice has grown exponentially through the years (there are now nine doctors). About five years ago, Gary began working half-time at the practice and narrowed his concentration exclusively to pediatric allergy and immunology patients. The number of kids with life-threatening food allergies has been growing steadily, he notes.
“There has been a big increase in food allergies,” says Gary. “Twenty or thirty years ago, once in a while you’d see a child with a peanut allergy or one of the other allergies. Now, it’s very frequent thing; and not only peanut allergy, but a number of others. Some of the big ones are peanut, fish and shellfish, milk, and eggs.”
One of the reasons for the rise may be the “hygiene hypothesis,” says Gary. The theory is that allergies are making their way into young bodies due to an abundance of cleanliness, including good food, clean water, available antibiotics, and immunizations.
“Another factor is for years we were told there are certain foods children should avoid at a young age—don’t start solid foods, don’t eat eggs for the first year; stay away from peanuts. But the best research we have today is that during that period in the first year of life, if children start to eat a certain food, they more likely to develop tolerance than allergy,” says Gary.
Gary serves as the medical advisor on the board of Food Allergy Education Network, founded in 2009 Branford by resident Gina Mennett Lee, a mother of two, including a child with severe food allergies.
Gary and Chris raised their two children, Laura and John, in Branford and feel blessed to be living within walking distance of their two grandchildren, Trey and Reese. Gary’s family was with him on June 12 when he was surprised with Branford’s Distinguished Service Award.
“I didn’t know it was coming,” says Gary. “I was there with my family celebrating the opening of the playground, which was very nice. So it was very surprising, and very kind of Jamie to make the presentation of the award.”
BELC director Diane Pappacoda helped organize the surprise.
“Dr. Wanerka is amazing,” she says. “I don’t think anyone can say enough about what he’s done for the children of Branford.”
Even as he looks back over decades of working with Branford families (these days, he has many “grandpatients” and even some “great-grandpatients”) Gary says he still feels the same keenness to practice today that he felt all those years ago as a new MD.
“I still feel that enthusiasm,” he says. “That’s why, at 75, I’m still working. It’s just such a privilege to be able to share the life experience with people, and to be able to help guide them through some of the difficult times. It’s a career that I’m blessed to have picked.”