Physician assistant and 1997 UNMC alum David Blauvelt has worked for doctors, the way most PAs do. But then he decided to strike out on his own.
He decided Kearney, Neb., was the place to do it. It’s still a relatively small city, but a growing one. A regional hub, with a great medical community. He wanted to be a part of that. He co-founded First Care Medical, an independent, PA-owned clinic.
Blauvelt and a partner hired a supervising physician, J.M. Finkner, M.D., another UNMC alum. Dr. Finkner was an emergency-medicine doc who wanted to try something new.
“He’s glad to do what he does, and he’s very good at it,” Blauvelt said. “We’re glad to have him. And we work as a team.”
Things were going well. But meanwhile, Ravenna, Neb., a rural town, population approximately 1,300, was losing its clinic. The hospital that owned it was getting out, and the city wanted to keep health care in town.
The community approached Blauvelt’s practice about taking over, and had a grant in hand from the hospital that was selling, to help make it work.
“The situation was one that didn’t require a lot of risk to us,” Blauvelt said. “There was no risk to the city. It was a win-win.”
First Care Medical signed on.
Blauvelt asked Ryan Lieske, with whom he’d gone to PA school, to staff the clinic day-to-day. “I knew he’d be perfect,” Blauvelt said.
The staff, the nurses, the receptionist, stayed in the area and kept their jobs.
They celebrated by signing that first contract in a public ceremony.
This was in 2009.
“The community has been very good to us,” Blauvelt said.
How has a PA-run clinic made it work, when the previous practitioners were getting out?
“What they needed was some continuity and commitment,” Blauvelt said.
And Ravenna, Neb., kept its clinic. This is what physician assistants can do.
“This is rural medicine,” Blauvelt said. “I don’t know what percentage of the state lives in these counties, but, a small population, but a lot of need.”