FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A new program called Neighborhood Nurse will launch in January 2025, offering a Saturday clinic and a nursing hotline. This initiative is a collaboration between Faith Community Nursing (FCN) and Compassion Central.
Cathy Boyle, a registered nurse who completed Faith Community Nursing training through WVU School of Nursing, is heading this program at Compassion Central, a recovery community organization in Fairmont, in which they have a state-designated ROC (Recovery Community Organization) area.
“The work that is being done through Compassion Central in Fairmont, West Virginia, connects well with the advocacy role of the faith community nurse,” said Dr. Angel Smothers, WVU School of Nursing Associate Dean for Community Engagement. “Cathy Boyle is setting a wonderful example of how a faith community nurse can support the needs of vulnerable populations.”
The clinic will operate every other Saturday for four hours at its primary location, the Church Fellowship Hall at 114 Walnut Ave in Fairmont. All services at the clinic are free of charge. Nurses and nurse practitioners will be available to provide services within their scope of practice, including examinations, assessments, basic treatments, and connections to referral sources and resources.
“As you start to work with an underserved population, which West Fairmont specifically is underserved, you start to see that folks have a wide variety of needs -- everything from access to resources and connections to other organizations, such as food pantries, clothing pantries and social services,” Boyle said. “Many pieces and parts can get lost in translation during the transitional period, so we can stand in the gap and help bridge care from hospital to home.”
To learn more about this new program, visit compassioncentralwv.org, call 304-906-5630 or email compassioncentralwv@gmail.com. For more information about Faith Community Nursing, please contact Dr. Angel Smothers at angel.smothers@hsc.wvu.edu.
Funding to support the training and equipping of faith community nurses was made available by the Hutson Family Foundation. Donations supporting the work of Faith Community Nurses are awarded via the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.
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