Susanne Price has been the certified family nurse practitioner at the Patriot Health Hub since July 13. She works there on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. (Lexie Shadix/The Oglethorpe Echo)
Susanne Price, a certified family nurse practitioner, describes herself as a “homegrown tomato,” someone who understands her environment and adapts to it.
Growing up in Blue Ridge, Georgia, Price brings a personal understanding of rural healthcare to her new role at the Patriot Health Hub, a school-based health center.
“I think growing up in a rural setting really gave me that servant's heart to want to come and help folks that needed it,” Price said.
Stepping in on July 13 to replace Audra Turbeville, Price works on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at the clinic, which is nearing its first year in operation.
The Patriot Health Hub initially served staff, students and their immediate families, but began providing services to the community this spring, filling a gap in clinical care.
“We have had a wonderful first couple months,” district nurse Kristina Turner said. “Our school population, our families … have been super receptive. We were told, of all the MedLink school-based health centers, that our opening was one of the best that they had in terms of numbers across the board.”
Turner said the clinic reduces the need for students to travel to Athens for care, allowing them to stay in the classroom longer. It provides immunizations, well-child checks, sports physicals, mental health services and more, along with transportation to and from the clinic twice a week for middle and high school students.
Because Price is the only provider at the clinic, the Hub does not see patients on Wednesdays or Fridays, and MedLink is recruiting a provider who can work there full-time.
Despite working in healthcare for 30 years, this career wasn’t always the goal for Price.
She earned a degree in English with a minor in political science in 1986, intending to go to law school. After graduation, she worked at the Department of Family and Children Services and raised three children before pivoting to nursing.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1998 and a Master of Science in Nursing in 2008, and spent the majority of her first decade as a nurse in hospital care.
“I saw people that came to the hospital just really in crisis mode … I really wanted to be able to have a relationship with the patients, and in the hospital, you are just doing so much,” Price said. “I knew that the nurse practitioner role was expanding, and I just decided I wanted to try my hand at that.”
In 2017, she earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, joking that she was the only grandparent at her graduation service.
Now with MedLink for 10 years, Price has worked in clinics in Habersham County, Colbert and Oglethorpe County.
In 2020, she also helped launch a nurse practitioner residency program at MedLink designed to train healthcare professionals to work in high-acuity, low-resource rural clinics.
Since its inception, 32 providers have completed the program, many of whom decided to stay with MedLink.
“Rural primary care is such a rewarding role for a provider,” Price said. “It’s the hardest job you’ll ever have, but it’s the best job that you’ll ever have … people out here in the rural community really need improved access to care.”
Price said she hopes to increase the Patriot Health Hub’s community outreach to ensure residents are aware of the services it provides.
“They’ve gotten off to a great start, and we just need to kind of expand on what they’ve already done, and just let people know that we’re here and we want to take care of you and your children, and we care about this community,” Price said.