Humboldt General Hospital's Walk-In Clinic has welcomed a new medical practitioner to its ranks.
    Sandra Deveny, APN-C, began working at the local clinic on Monday, May 2, bringing together the best of both worlds in her work and personal life.
    Deveny, a longtime resident of Humboldt County, initially worked as this area's State of Nevada Community Health Nurse.
    For the past three years, she has worked at Battle Mountain General Hospital's Rural Health Clinic, a job she loved, but a two-hour daily commute she won't miss a bit.
    "So when the opportunity presented itself to stay in my home community and practice, I was thrilled," she said. "It's great to be off the road."
    Deveny is an Advanced Practice Nurse - Certified (APN-C) with a laundry list of letters behind her name. Following her graduation from the California State University, Dominguez Hills, with a bachelor of science in nursing, she earned her Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner from the University of Texas Dallas, Southwestern Medical College.
    That was followed by a master of science in nursing from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia and a post masters Family Nurse Practitioner from The George Washington University in Washington DC. 
    "I think I'm done," laughed Deveny at her educational pursuits. "It's time to start living it, doing it!"
    As an Advanced Practice Nurse, Deveny uses advanced nursing skills and knowledge to provide primary care to patients.  
     Jim Parrish, CEO/Administrator, at Humboldt General Hospital said Deveny's skill set is a perfect fit for Humboldt General's size and rural location. "Our goal is to provide excellent, cost-effective primary care," he said, "and Sandy's exceptional knowledge base and manner of care is going to be one more good way that we can meet our community's healthcare needs."
    Deveny's goal as a health practitioner has always been the same: "I love the ability to help people maintain their optimal state of wellness," she said. In fact, the nurse practitioner model is to promote health and wellness.
    Still, she acknowledges that at the clinic, she will join Dr. Bill Celentano in mostly treating minor ailments, injuries and medical issues not serious enough for the emergency room.
    "We're mostly seeing sick people," she said, "so you do what you can. When a patient is coughing, you teach them to wash their hands or cough into their arm. In a way, that's health promotion; that's a way to prevent the spread of disease."
    Deveny calls herself a small-town girl who loves rural Nevada-especially the high desert-"and Winnemucca puts me right in the middle of it," she said.
    Being at Humboldt General Hospital's Walk-In Clinic also puts her right in the middle of primary healthcare, a place she also feels very comfortable.
    As a youth, she was a candy-striper in San Francisco. She also comes from a family of nurses. So at age 21, it only seemed natural for her to pursue the same profession.
    In her words, she is happy and excited to care for local residents "from cradle to grave."
    Humboldt General Hospital Walk-In Clinic is currently located in the hospital's 211 Aiken Street medical office building. With the completion of a more than 30,000-square-foot expansion in July 2011, the clinic will move into the hospital itself, for more ease in triaging patients between the emergency room and the clinic. 
    Beginning Monday, May 16, the clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. No appointment is necessary.
    For more information, please call the clinic at (775) 625-7000 or call Humboldt General Hospital at (775) 623-5222, ext. 0.