Aiding community part of job for retiring dentist

After nearly 40 years of taking care of teeth in Boulder City, Dr. George Rosenbaum has announced that he is retiring from his dental practice, though he does intend to remain involved in the community.

In 1978, after completing school, Rosenbaum returned to Las Vegas with his wife, Wanda, just as the city’s population was beginning to explode. They met while working in the small town of Shurz, in Northern Nevada, and they missed the feeling of community from living in a small town; before long the two decided to make their home in Boulder City.

“When we moved to town I was a little shy and didn’t know anyone, but then I joined the Boulder City Rotary Club,” George Rosenbaum said. “It helped us meet people, get to know local business members and really get involved in the community.”

Over the past 37 years, George Rosenbaum has remained involved in the organization, participating in numerous events and even serving as its president twice. He said he plans to remain involved into retirement — it means too much to him.

Additionally, he supported and coached for a variety of athletic teams and been a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. He was also active in the Boy Scouts’ Explorer program.

Wanda Rosenbaum volunteered her time for years, focusing primarily on helping handicapped and at-risk children. In their office she helped spearhead monthly projects to benefit the community and annually participated in a food drive as well as the Angel Tree toy drive to assist Emergency Aid of Boulder City.

The Rosenbaums also did what they could to help people that had trouble affording dental care, working with local churches that provided referrals by donating time to those in need and working to provide care to patients on Medicaid or with subpar insurance.

Wanda Rosenbaum, a registered nurse, has been with the office since its inception. In the beginning she worked nights and weekends as a trainer, pioneering infection control techniques when she wasn’t doing volunteer work and raising their three children, Aaron, Jason and Mayi.

“In the old days people weren’t as focused on safety and infection control,” Wanda said. “But when we started it was around the same time as the AIDS epidemic and we took everything very seriously and helped to develop much better procedures.”

By 1995, after the children had grown, she joined the office full time, working as the office and safety manager.

“It’s been a wonderful community to be a part of and our patients are the best,” George Rosenbaum said. “We’ve had many of the same patients for 25 or 35 years, serving them, and their kids and even grandkids. It’s like a family.”

George Rosenbaum said he is too much of a “type A personality” to retire completely. He intends to stay involved in the community and will soon be teaching part time as an adjunct professor for UNLV.

Since they decided to move on, George Rosenbaum has begun the process of handing things off to his successor, Dr. Nakyoung Ju.

A native of South Korea, Ju studied and worked in dentistry in his homeland for four years before moving to the U.S. in 2010. He returned to school and graduated from the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry in 2012.

After spending two years in a small town in Pennsylvania, Ju moved back to California, but quickly knew he wanted to recapture that small-town feel. Ju started taking over the office Jan. 3, and said he is excited for the future as he is already feeling at home.

“I love the town already,” Ju said. “The people are so nice and the staff here is wonderful. They really care about helping people.”

The Rosenbaums will stay for the transition period during the next three months. George Rosenbaum also plans to bring him to the Rotary club, to help him become a part of the community, something he knows from experience is important personally as well as professionally.

The office will hold an open house from 1-4 p.m. Jan. 19, at the practice, 899 Adams Blvd..

Contact reporter Hunter Terry at hterry@bouldercityreview.com or call 702-586-6711. Follow him on Twitter @HunterBCReview