Angelika Fizzell, more affectionately known as “Angie”, graduated from the Registered Practical Nursing program in 2006. Armed with a passion for helping, and a desire to make her community a better place, Angie set off in search of the perfect fit within her new found career.
Her career path included working in the local hospital and also with various community agencies, but none of them felt right. One evening, she sat at the dinner table with her family talking about a need for more comprehensive foot care options in the North. She was dismayed there were many gaps in Northern health care services and was frustrated that more could not be done.
What started out with a moment of frustration turned into a conversation about what she could do, and with that her passion found its mark. Angie’s Foot Care opened its doors in 2014, within the tight knit city of Timmins, Ontario.
Since her initial launch, Angie has gone from offering in home basic foot care to a wide range of services, including advanced and diabetic foot care, clinic services, compression stocking fittings, as well as a vendor of German health products. While her primary focus was servicing the Timmins area, she has begun to reach out to surrounding Northern communities. Committed to continued learning, Angie has travelled all over Ontario taking many foot care related training seminars, workshops and conferences as she could. She has partnered with many local and national agencies and organizations including CTRC, The Canadian Diabetes Foundation, Veterans Affairs and Soadi, looking for any new way she can play a role in furthering the accessibility and quality of health care.
This is not where her story ends. Angie was still troubled with the lack of care options in the North. She had clients travelling hours to receive foot care, and this did not sit well with her. As a result, Angie began to offer post graduate certificate programs through Northern College for health care workers. At first these classes were only held in the South Porcupine campus. Angie was happy that local agencies were able to train their staff, but Angie pressed on. Many of her students were from outlying areas or Indigenous communities, travelling many hours or staying in hotel rooms to access her courses. She knew from her own experiences how expensive this could be. Angie began to work with surrounding populations in hope of making her teachings more accessible. Travelling to outlying communities, sometimes for the day, sometimes for days, Angie left her family behind to make sure that others in the North could have access to the health care she felt they deserved.
Arranging teachings, however, was difficult, and classes often became postponed for a wide array of reasons. Students expressed their frustrations and Angie listened. She was dealing with real time people who had real time patients. She couldn’t stand thinking that people were being affected by wait times on her end, so Angie set out to do what she does best; problem solve.
As a result, Angie’s Foot Care now offers hands on in-house training, as well as online theoretical components of their Basic Foot Care and Advanced/Diabetic courses. Her goal? Accessible quality education to ensure accessible quality care.
The future is exciting, and Angie is excited to see what comes next. With a passion for health, people, and the Great White North, the sky is the limit.
