Dr. April Greener, the new Dent County Health Center (DCHC) nurse practitioner, started seeing patients July 5. Greener brings a passion for and an expertise in women’s healthcare. According to Zach Moser, DCHC director, Greener is filling a hole in coverage—not just at the health center, but for the area.
According to Moser the area has a distinct shortage of obstetrician-gynecologists and pediatricians.
“Not that you can’t find family practitioners in the area, but we don’t really have anyone that focuses on those services,” he said.
“The role of public health is to provide services that aren’t being provided elsewhere,” said Moser.
“She has a lot of experience with women’s health specifically,” Moser said of Greener, which, according to Moser, was a high priority when interviewing candidates.
“She’s been employed since June 6,” said Moser. “But nurse practitioners have to do a month period with their supervisory position. So, that’s why she’s been spending her time over in Texas County with Dr. King,” said Moser.
Greener moved to Missouri from Utah June 4 and started her shadowing period June 6.
“My background is all in health care, I started as a CNA (certified nurse’s assistant) at age 16 and have been in healthcare since,” said Greener.
She went on to acquire an impressive array of nursing degrees and certifications, including DNP (doctorate of nursing practices), APRN (advanced practice registered nurse), FNP-BC (family nurse practitioner, board certified).
Greener worked as a volunteer clinician at Maliheh Free Clinic for 12 years while teaching at Westminster College in Salt Lake City (Utah). Westminster requires all of their professors to work clinically.
Over the years, Greener developed a passion and an expertise in women’s health. While teaching at Westminster, she volunteered at Maliheh Free Clinic in Salt Lake City, which is named after its originating physician.
“It’s a free clinic that provided healthcare to patients that do not have insurance or [are] low income,” she said. “All of the providers there are volunteers,” she said. Greener said that during her time at Maliheh, she did many of the same sort of things that DCHC does.
“It was very rewarding to work in that clinic,” she said. Greener also said she expects her time at the health center to be rewarding in much the same way.
Greener specifically volunteered in women's clinic services.
“The services that I provided there were cervical and breast cancer screening,” she said.
Greener will be doing the same sort of work in Dent County.
“It’s called the Show Me Healthy Women program,” she said. The state provides funding for women who meet the appropriate criteria for age and low income to receive free cervical and breast cancer screenings.
“A lot of women miss that screening because they can’t afford it or can’t find a provider,” she said.
The screening that Greener provides is the same sort of screening that can be done at any other facility. Greener also wants women who may not qualify for the Show Me Healthy Women program but who are still in need of those services, that there are still affordable options to address those needs.
Greener also brings with her experience in family planning.
“Dent County has historically had a very high teen pregnancy rate,” said Moser in reference to Greener’s additional expertise with family planning and education.
“Providing more access to birth control is something that is on our agenda here to try and help get that teen pregnancy rating down,” he said. Moser pointed out there are several factors that play into a high teen pregnancy rate. Moser pointed out that for some it's a lack of access to contraceptives and for others it may be affordability.
According to Moser, the health center is pushing to provide these sorts of things to the community at an affordable cost.
Greener said that she feels like being a teacher made her a better clinician and that being a clinician made her a better teacher.
“I was keeping up on all of the updated guidelines, and I was consistently mentoring the preceptory students,” she said. Greener also said that she feels fortunate to have been able to serve as a teacher, instructing and mentoring new medical professionals and her work at the college allowed her to volunteer at a free clinic so that she could serve vulnerable populations.
“I feel very lucky to be able to take care of patients in what can be a vulnerable time, I am passionate about women’s healthcare and feel like that’s something that’s often overlooked or not addressed,” she said.
“So, being able to take care of women is important to me,” she said.
“Additionally, I’m passionate about reaching out and connecting with people who need it the most,” she said. “That’s one of the mottoes here ‘to provide service and improve the outcomes for the people of Dent County,” she said.
“One of the things that I loved most about the Maliheh [Free] Clinic is that it was never about trying to make money, it was always about providing good care and good outcomes for patients,” she said. “I think that aligns perfectly with what the health center does as well,” she said.
Greener said that one of the main reasons she was interested in the role at the health center is because the focus is on providing healthcare with the best results—unlike for-profit clinics which can sometimes focus more on making a profit than on making a positive impact on their patients.
Greener grew up on her father’s dairy farm in a small unincorporated community called Bothwell in rural northern Utah, so she’s no stranger to a small town, but the rolling wooded hills of the Ozarks are a dramatically different landscape compared to the flatlands skirted by mountains where she grew up.
Greener moved to Dent County with her husband, Cameron, and three of their four children—their eldest is attending college in Utah.
Greener didn’t originally move to Dent County because she knew that there would be a place for her at the health center.
“My husband and I were looking for a change and decided to take a leap of faith and move to the Midwest,” she said. They looked at moving to multiple different places in several states.
When they visited Dent County they fell in love with rolling hills and lush greenery.
“It was just absolutely beautiful, and we felt that this could be our home,” she said.
Greener said that she hadn’t originally intended to start working as soon as they arrived, but that when she saw the job posting for the position at the health center, she decided that it was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up.
Moser told The Salem News that he is happy to have her on staff.
