CCounty makes offerto nurse practitioner

Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday authorized their Clinic Advisory Board to offer a nurse practioner position to a Grays Harbor County woman.

If the candidate accepts the offer, she could join staff of the Wahkiakum Family Practice Clinic in November. The clinic would have one doctor, Dr. Keith Wright, and another nurse practitioner, Margie Godfrey, on staff.

The new practitioner would replace Dr. Richard Avalon, 23-year veteran of the clinic who resigned effective October 1 to join a practice in Renton.

The candidate, Diana Moser, was one of two strong candidates that the advisory board’s recruiting committee interviewed, said committee member Sandi Benbrook- Rieder.

She has over 20 years experience in nursing and as a family practice nurse practitioner. For the past eight years, she has worked in a clinic where she was the sole clinician.

The recruiting committee felt that Moser’s experience, training and willingness to joining the practice in November made her the clear first priority for an offer of employment, Benbrook-Rieder said.

The advisory board hopes to have a nurse practitioner on staff as soon as possible to reduce the impact of Dr. Avalon’s departure. The clinic would be able to initiate new billings earlier than anticipated.

The board expects that a nurse practitioner of Moser’s skill and experience will cost approximately $90,000 but will generate a net gain in revenue of approximately $120,000 or more.

The second candidate is completing studies at St. John Hospital and has worked as an intern at the family practice clinic. She has 10 years experience in nursing and is expected to receive her ARNP credentials in early 2008.

The advisory board is working on its big project—developing a financial and operational model for the clinic, Benbrook-Rieder said.

They’re studying revenues and the costs of basic service at the clinic, of emergency care, of night hours, and of doing hospital rounds.

Once they have a good picture of expense and possible sources of revenue, they’ll hold a public meeting to present the information, she said. Then the community will be able to decide what services it wants from the clinic and how to pay for them.

The clinic has approximately 3,200 patients on file, Business Manager Kathy Patterson said. In 2006, the clinic saw approximately 2,500 of those patients in 11,000 office visits.