FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
4/16/2007
CONTACT:
- Melody Rasmor, Department of Nursing, 360/546-9619, rasmor@vancouver.wsu.edu
- Sheri Byrd, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360/546-9602, byrds@vancouver.wsu.edu
Vancouver, Wash. - Twelve family nurse practitioner students from Washington State University Vancouver will be helping the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington to staff their Wednesday and new Monday morning hours, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 16 to May 2.
Located in Vancouver's Jim Parsley Center at 4100 Plomondon St., the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington seeks to provide free, quality basic health care to children and adults who are otherwise unable to access such services.
"The growing number of uninsured patients poses a formidable challenge for current and future educators of nurse practitioners," said Melody Rasmor, 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø clinical assistant professor of nursing.
"With this partnership, nurse practitioners get good training, and see first hand the need for medical care among the uninsured in the community," said Free Clinic director Marcia Howery. "Also, it can be difficult to find volunteers available during the day, when some of our patients find it easier to come."
The 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø nursing program partnered with the free clinic once before, in 2002.
"From that experience, we learned that our students gained insight, understanding and sensitivity to social justice issues impacting health care systems. Many of them voiced intent to provide volunteer care to uninsured persons in the future," said Rasmor. "Nurse practitioners are critical players in the provision of primary health care and are in a position to influence delivery systems that address the unmet needs of the uninsured."
The students will be helping in the clinic Monday and Wednesday mornings 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. until May 2.
For more information on the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington, visit or call 360/313-1390. For more information on the nursing programs at 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø, visit .
91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave., east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø offers 14 Bachelor's degrees, nine Master's degrees and one Doctorate degree and more than 35 fields of study. Visit us on the Web at