health center

SIOUX CENTER – Three visitors have become familiar faces at Promise Community Health Center this fall. The three graduate students have put in many hours completing preceptorships with providers at the health center as practical training for their future careers. Learn a little more about them: Trisha Harms (right) completed her preceptorship at Promise CHC with Tana Kass, ARNP. TRISHA HARMS College: Morningside College in Sioux City Major: Master’s degree program for family nurse practitioner Career ambition: Serving as a nurse practitioner at a clinic in the surrounding area. Preceptorship time frame: 200 clinical hours from September through November Promise CHC preceptor: Tana Kass, advanced registered nurse practitioner Thoughts on preceptorship: “I wanted to experience time in a community health atmosphere. I wanted to be able to see the difference between different types of clinics. An amazing experience and knowledge that I will always remember.” Reflections about Prom...

SIOUX CENTER – Brenda Miller worked with families who struggled to obtain the medical and mental health care that they need in her previous job. Therefore, she was interested in going into a field where she could help ensure that people receive accessible and high-quality care. Brenda Miller has assumed the position of director of operations at Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center. She was interested in going into a field where she could help ensure people have access to high-quality medical care. Miller found that opportunity at Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center and has assumed the position of director of operations at the health center. “I was interested because Promise provides access to essential services for uninsured and under-insured families,” she said. “This position will allow me to use my passion, education and background to ensure that families have a place to go that provides the quality care they need.” Miller grew up in Ponca, NE, where she grad...

SIOUX CENTER – You can give a gift that keeps on giving to Promise Community Health Center this Christmas season – and beyond – without spending a penny. And it’s easy. Every time you shop with Amazon, the online retailer will automatically donate 0.5 percent of the purchase price to Promise. All you have to do is select Promise as your charity of choice. To get started, go to the following link to register Promise Community Health Center as your charity: smile.amazon.com/ch/20-5896415 . Promise will remain your charity of choice whenever you shop thereafter on Amazon unless you change it. Once you are registered, just go to smile.amazon.com – rather than amazon.com – every time you shop for goods online through Amazon. The website works exactly the same as the regular Amazon site with the same selection of products, same services and same shopping experience that you have become accustomed to. Your login and password to sign in and all your account information also remains the sam...

Shirts decorated by victims of abuse from Family Crisis Centers were hung on a rotating daily basis in Promise Community Health Center's break room window. The Clothesline Project aims to bring awareness about abuse. SIOUX CENTER – “I’m not a victim. I’m a victor.” “Hold on. Pain ends.” “Silence helps the tormentor. Never the tormented.” “He burned our home to the ground.” “You changed me forever. Now I am changing others by inspiring them not to give up.” Promise Community Health Center staff members then created their own paper shirts with messages of hope and encouragement to those who experienced abuse. A rotation of about 25 shirts with gripping messages rotated through daily on a clothesline in the window of the break room at Promise Community Health Center over two weeks. For this week, the third and final week of the project, staff members were able to design their own paper T-shirt with message of hope and encouragement to victims of abuse. Those also were hung on the clo...

SIOUX CENTER – Wendy Stangeland learned how to be empathetic with people while working as a 911 dispatcher. That’s a skill that she knows she will use in her new roles as a behavioral health coordinator, receptionist and interpreter at Promise Community Health Center because patients need a person they can trust and feel comfortable talking to about their difficulties. Wendy Stangeland has assumed her new roles of behavioral health coordinator, receptionist and interpreter at Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center. She wants to help people feel more comfortable with the idea of visiting with a therapist and help them better understand how that can benefit their overall health. Stangeland thinks the responsibilities are an excellent fit for her. “I love working with people and interacting with them,” she said. “Being part of the behavioral health team will have me doing that and more. I also love seeking how people change from one stage in their life to the next, seeing them s...

SIOUX CENTER – David Schelhaas became connected to Promise Community Health Center in Sioux Center after getting to know Jessica Mora while managing the Sioux Center Community Gardens Project for the past several years. Mora, who is the office manager and outreach coordinator at Promise, served as a helpful liaison between him and gardeners from the Hispanic community. Through that connection, Schelhaas learned that Promise offered an important resource to many people who faced barriers to health care, ranging from income to language. Dave Schelhaas, a retired Dordt College English professor, serves on the Promise Community Health Center board. Therefore, he readily accepted the invitation to join Promise’s Board of Directors earlier this year because he understood the organization’s impact in the region. “As medical costs continue to go up, many members of our community cannot afford to pay for the care they need,” Schelhaas said. “Promise is a wonderful option for all people – but e...

SIOUX CENTER – An internal slogan often has been repeated at Promise Community Health Center : “Just walk through the front door.” The yellow, steel exterior of its downtown Sioux Center building might not be inviting, but people always are amazed by the warm and welcoming facilities and comprehensive range of top-notch services offered to patients inside. This is a small glimpse of what Promise Community Health Center has planned for its exterior renovation project. The health center in downtown Sioux Center has launched a capital campaign to raise 50 percent of the estimated $250,000 cost through private donations. Now, Promise yearns for a building that patients can take pride in as they walk in – with an exterior that matches what they experience inside. To accomplish that goal, Promise has launched a $250,000 capital campaign for an exterior renovation project. Fifty percent of the funds have been committed. Promise now needs the help of the community to donate the remaining fund...