The newest nurse practitioner to join the staff at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital (SMCH) in Lake City and the McCrary Rost Clinics in Gowrie and Rockwell City will be focusing on psychiatric and mental health care. Carrie Goodwin, who had earned a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Iowa, says she saw a need, particularly in this area, for mental healthcare support of residents. “A real cause for concern was the statistics I saw for Webster and Greene Counties that have a higher rate of ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) scores than Polk County. This means that more people in these two counties reported four or more ACEs than one of the most densely populated counties in the state of Iowa,” Goodwin says. “I had always wanted to be a nurse practitioner, so I went back to the University of Iowa and earned those degrees.” Stewart Memorial CEO, Cindy Carstens, says the need for increasing mental health services is only continuing to grow, which has been evident this past year with the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated stresses. “As Calhoun County and the Rolling Hills Community Services Region have focused on improving mental health services to the region over the past several years, Stewart Memorial has been a collaborating partner with the mental health teams. Being able to add Carrie Goodwin, PMHNP, to our clinics allows that collaboration to continue to develop and expand additional services in the Gowrie and Rockwell City communities,” Carstens says.
