Family Health Clinic to serve Burlington, Indiana, area

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University School of Nursing and North Central Nursing Clinics have opened a third regional nurse-managed community health clinic to serve central Indiana residents in rural settings.

The Family Health Clinic of Burlington, at 425 E. 5th St. in Burlington is open and will serve residents primarily from the Burlington, Frankfort and Kokomo region. Burlington, a town of 600 citizens, is located in the southeast corner of Carroll County. Anyone interested in an appointment or additional information can call 765-566-5055.

The other two health clinics are in Delphi and Monon, and are operated by North Central Nursing Clinic, Inc., in partnership with Purdue School of Nursing. These clinics see more than 5,000 patients a year; many of them have limited access to health care.

"This area of Burlington is a bit different demographic for us because of its larger aging Medicare population," said Jim Layman, executive director for Purdue's Nursing Clinics. "Residents had been served by a local clinic but it recently closed and as a result patients were left without ready access to primary healthcare. Rural Indiana is understaffed with physicians, but this aging small town especially has a great need because it's harder for residents to travel."

The new clinic expects to see 1,000 patients its first year, then increase the annual patient load to 1,600. The clinic is housed in a renovated facility with three exam rooms, a lab, a nurse's station and administrative offices.

The clinic, which receives funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, is staffed by a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, medical assistant and office support staff. Nurse practitioners, who have at minimum a master's degree, are valued as health care providers by patients; they diagnose, prescribe medications and order diagnostic tests as well as provide education and health promotion. There will be opportunities for nursing students, both undergraduate and graduate, to participate in the provision of patient care and to collaborate with North Central Nursing Clinics staff on quality improvement and clinic management projects. Students from nursing, pharmacy, dietetics and other health-related fields benefit from inter professional learning possibilities, which are facilitated by nursing faculty in collaboration with clinic staff.

"Clinical experience in this setting allows Purdue students to learn about primary health care and work with a variety of patients from different economic, education and ethnic backgrounds," said Suzan Overholser, director of operations at the clinic.

Purdue's School of Nursing is housed in the College of Health and Human Sciences. 

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: Suzan Overholser, soverho@purdue.edu

Jim Layman, laymand@purdue.edu

Jane Kirkpatrick, professor and head of the School of Nursing, jmkirk@purdue.edu