Major influx of new staff
Wood River Health has expanded its team by hiring Family Nurse Practitioner Alexa Allard, FNP-C; Integrated Behavioral Health Clinician Calli Duthrie, MSW, LCSW; Behavioral Health Advocate Nickolas Fitzgerald, CCHW, TTS; Director of Behavioral Health Christine King, MA; and Physician Assistant Elena Manchette, PA-C.
“Wood
River Health’s vision is for every member of our community to experience
physical, emotional and social well-being,” stated President and CEO Alison
L. Croke, MHA. “It takes a highly dedicated team to make this vision a
reality. We continue to recruit mission-driven individuals to deliver patient-centered
care while empowering our patients to become active participants in their
care.”
Here's the new staff members:
Alexa Allard, FNP-C joined
Wood River Health in August 2023 as a board-certified Family Nurse
Practitioner. Allard obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing
from Salve Regina University. She has worked at Newport Hospital and for South
County Health, where she has cared for patients and families in the hospital
and in the community throughout Washington County. Allard undertook additional
training focusing on the importance of dietary approaches to prevent and manage
hypertension. She is passionate about incorporating individual and
family-centered education in primary care to support prevention of illness and
achieve wellness.
Calli Duthrie, MSW, LCSW is an
integrated behavioral health clinician at Wood River Health who works with
children, adolescents, and adults. She graduated from Eastern Connecticut State
University with her bachelor’s degree in social work and Fordham University
with her master’s in social work. Duthrie has experience in outpatient settings
and mobile crisis, attending to at risk youth in the community. She has worked
with children of all ages in educational and community settings both
professionally and through her volunteer work in the community.
Nickolas
Fitzgerald,
CCHW, TTS joined Wood River Health as a Behavioral Health Advocate. He obtained
his Certified Community Health Worker (CCHW) certification through the Rhode
Island Certification Board and his Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS)
certification through training with CODAC and UMass Med. Fitzgerald has served
on his local Health Equity Zone (HEZ) board and facilitated Consumer Advisory
Boards. His previous position was at Gateway South Shore Center, where he
served as a Care Coordinator, Case Manager and Tobacco Treatment Specialist.
His resource navigation skills and passion for community care have helped many
individuals in the Washington County area. As a Certified Community Health
Worker, he has developed many partnerships and helped patients navigate the
health care system.
Christine King, MA was
recently welcomed as Wood River Health’s Director of Behavioral Health. A
graduate of Providence College and the Boston Graduate School of
Psychoanalysis, Christine has experience in Kingian Nonviolence Training,
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and is pursuing a post Masters Certificate
in Mental Health Counseling. King previously served for over 10 years as
Executive Director of the Interfaith Counseling Center, where she led the
organization in great growth and programmatic delivery. Her leadership skills
and development of community connections have created a network of trauma
healing services in Rhode Island. While trained as a counselor, she has blended
her knowledge of the field and practice with leadership and community
development to create partnerships, referrals paths, and collaborative services
to provide accessible and barrier free care to those in need. King has served
on a number of boards and committees in community organizations and is a 2016
MU graduate of Leadership Rhode Island.
Elena Manchette, PA-C, joined the Wood River Health team in November
2023 as a Physician Assistant (PA). She received a Bachelor of Science in
Biological Sciences with a minor in Psychology, summa cum laude, from the
University of Rhode Island. She was then awarded the prestigious National
Health Service Corps Scholarship and completed her Master of Science in PA
Studies at Johnson & Wales University (JWU). At JWU, Manchette researched
the impacts of providing social resources to vulnerable populations. She is passionate
about working with underserved communities and committed to providing
high-quality, patient-centered and humanistic primary healthcare services.
About Wood River Health
Since 1976, Wood River Health has delivered medical, dental and social
services to the communities of southwestern Rhode Island and southeastern
Connecticut. Its mission is to provide its patients with high-quality and
affordable health care services through a compassionate, team-based approach.
Its vision is for every member of its community to experience physical,
emotional and social well-being.
A private, non-profit Community Health Center, Wood River Health is
devoted to providing quality patient care to over 8,600 patients. It is
recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a
Patient-Centered Medical Home. As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC),
Wood River Health receives funds from the HRSA Health Center Program to provide
primary care services in underserved areas. For more information, visit
WoodRiverHealth.org.