CHERRYVALE — Labette Health will open a new medical clinic at 209 E. Main with a hometown native serving as the primary medical provider.
Scott Fox of Cherryvale will serve as the nurse practitioner in the clinic, which is currently being remodeled and should be open in a matter of weeks.
Fox, who previously was a flight nurse with EagleMed Air Medical Transport based in Joplin, Mo., said he was looking forward to working in his hometown.
“I loved being a flight nurse, but I have children at home and I needed to spend more time with them,” Fox said. “We moved back to Cherryvale five or six years ago, and I’ve commuted to Joplin since then. I love the thought of working in my hometown and building rapport with the community.”
He and his wife, Teri, who is also a Cherryvale native, have two children, Carley, age three, and Landon, age 21 months. Teri teaches second grade at Lincoln Central Elementary School in Cherryvale.
Fox, who graduated from Cherryvale High School in 1996, received a bachelor of science degree in nursing with departmental honors from Pittsburg State University in 2000, and completed a master of science degree as a family nurse practitioner, graduating cum laude in May 2009 from Pittsburg State.
He said he was looking forward to working with Labette Health emergency physician Shawn Southwick, D.O., with whom he previously worked in the emergency department at Independence Mercy Hospital. Fox also previously worked as an emergency and intensive-care nurse at Freeman Health System in Joplin, where he managed the emergency department nursing staff.
“We felt that with Scott’s medical background and his roots in Cherryvale, a clinic there would allow us to provide outstanding care for individuals and companies in that area,” said Derek Vance, Labette Health vice president of operations and business development.
Fox said that the building, which formerly housed a medical clinic, was nearing completion.
“The drywall is up, or nearly so. I’m hopeful that the building will be ready by the middle of September and we can finish equipping it. We’ll be bringing in X-ray equipment, so we’ll be able to provide a high level of service for our patients,” said Fox.
The Cherryvale clinic will be the third operated by Labette Health outside of Parsons. The other clinics are in Erie and St. Paul.
Fox has been spending the past several weeks shadowing the healthcare providers who operate those clinics. He said that although seeing patients in a clinic will be much different from his previous work in emergency medicine, he was looking forward to building relationships with his patients and providing them with a continuity of care.
