Top Notch Care Around the Corner

Erica L. Schwartz, DNP, MSN, CNM, wishes she could be a patient at her own clinic, Sheridan (Colo.) Health Services, a nurse-managed health center serving a low-income suburb of Denver. She believes the primary care there, provided by advanced practice nurses, is every bit as good as what she gets through her insurance, which does not cover care at Sheridan. What the nurse-run clinic offers that more traditional primary care does not, she said, is a strong wellness component.

With traditional care, “I go in if I have a problem, they address the problem and that’s it,” said Schwartz, executive director of Sheridan Health Services and assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing. “I’m just processed through.”

Since she doesn’t have any chronic health problems, she said, the system works OK for her. But she says her clinic — with its health education programs, prevention services and integrated providers — offers ideal care for any population. “I think it would be nice to have nurse-managed health centers be the norm as gatekeepers of primary care,” Schwartz said.

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