New medical clinic serves Wolcott

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University School of Nursing and North Central Nursing Clinics have opened a regional nurse led community health clinic in Wolcott, Indiana.

Wolcott, a town of 1,001 citizens, is located in White County. The Family Health Clinic of Wolcott, 128 W. Market St., will serve individuals from the Wolcott, Remington and surrounding areas. Anyone interested in an appointment or additional information can call 219-747-2067.

"The reality is that smaller towns struggle to attract full-time physicians, and this is our fourth clinic in central Indiana to help these rural communities," said Jim Layman, executive director for Purdue's Nursing Clinics. "Providing primary quality health care is our specialty."

The last physician in Wolcott retired in spring 2014, and the medical office has been vacant since. It was renovated for the Family Health Clinic.

"We opened on June 15 and some of our first patients were individuals who had not sought medical care since the previous clinic closed," said Suzan Overholser, director of operations at the clinic. "Because of the lack of care in the area patients needed to drive out of county, which meant taking children out of school or employees missing more work."

Purdue's North Central Nursing Clinics operate three other sites as part of the overall Federally Qualified Health Center. These include the recently opened Family Health Clinic of Burlington, along with clinics in Delphi and Monon. These clinics will see more than 6,500 patients a year, many of whom have limited access to health care. The Wolcott clinic expansion represents collaboration with community leadership and economic development. The building was purchased by a nonprofit, the Remington Wolcott Community Development Corporation, who leases space to the Family Health Clinic of Wolcott.

The clinic is staffed by a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, medical assistant and office support staff. Nurse practitioners, who have at minimum a master's degree, diagnose and treat, prescribe medications and order diagnostic tests as well as provide education and health promotion. There will be opportunities for Purdue 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.

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: Jim Layman, laymand@purdue.edu

Suzan Overholser, soverho@purdue.edu

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