Nikki Vandecasteele

“I successfully passed my board exam on new years eve and received my state license as a certified nurse midwife today! I will be joining Grand Traverse Womens clinic hopefully in March! I am unfortunately not able to start the clinic in the area I currently work, as I had planned and was led to believe would in fact happen (yet). I will continue to pursue that avenue as I gain experience with an amazing team of physicians, midwives and nurse practitioners in Traverse City. The team I am joining currently does provide treatment for women battling substance dependence in pregnancy so I will get amazing experiences with them. Next step is sitting for my nurse practitioner exam!”

“The past year has been incredible.  I changed jobs in December. I’m now with a HRSA (Health Resources And Services Administration) clinic.  I am still in a rural setting but now have the resources to care for the uninsured and underserved. We offer a sliding scale for visits and medications based on income. COVID19 has created some challenges but we are not seeing the cases the metropolitan areas are seeing. I’m hoping that continues but my fear is the rural communities are simply lagging behind the metropolitan areas.  We are seeing patients via telemedicine which has its own set of challenges. Rural Alabama has internet but many cannot afford it. Many still use flip phones or not at all. In spite of this, we are still managing to deliver quality care to our patients. The community is amazing. I’m so grateful to be here. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.  I think Erin and Ellen are smiling. I like to think so anyway.”

Janet Pouncy, CRNP

Over the past year Courtney Pladsen has worn two hats in Maine. The first as a Nurse Practitioner providing direct care including primary, mental health, and substance use treatment at the Healthcare for the Homeless Clinic in Portland, Maine. The second is as a consultant helping to lead three organizations develop and start the state’s first medical respite program. This program will provide residential medical care for people who are homeless and who are too sick to safely recover on the streets or in a shelter, but no longer require hospital level of care. This program is scheduled to open this fall and will be an important step in addressing a significant unmet need in the community.

In the past year Dr. Pladsen was awarded the United Nation’s Nurses With Global Impact Award for her commitment to working with people experiencing homelessness and addressing unmet social needs in primary care including housing.

She is currently in her third year of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leaders program and her strategic initiative is focused on improving the continuum of healthcare for people experiencing homelessness in Maine.

In other exciting news Courtney and her husband Matt welcomed their first child Ole Kirk Henry March 2020.

Courtney Pladsen, DNP, FNP-BC, RN | Photo Credit: Nurses With Global Impact, Inc.

Today, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) made an exciting announcement regarding a new therapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the same disease that Erin suffered from.

“Progress in treating AML, one of the most deadly blood cancers, took an important step forward today with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of ivosidenib for patients who have a specific genetic mutation called IDH1.

The approval of this oral, targeted therapy provides a critical new option for AML patients with this particular subtype who have relapsed or did not respond to prior treatment. The IDH1 genetic marker is found in approximately six to 10 percent of the 20,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with AML each year.

Ivosidenib is the sixth AML therapy approved by the FDA in the past two years, continuing much needed progress for patients who desperately need new treatment options. As a leader in the offensive against AML, LLS played a significant role in helping to advance all of these approved therapies.”

Hello to all of our friends and supporters! We want to give you a quick update on how our 2017 Fellow, Courtney Pladsen, is doing since she has been very busy.

In December, Courtney successfully defended her Doctoral dissertation titled: Effects of an Education Intervention on Implementing a Social Determinants of Health Screening Tool in Primary Care. This research project has helped Unity Healthcare, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) that serves more than 100,000 patients, screen and address social determinants of health.

The 2018 Fellowship Award Celebration will be held on Friday, April 27, 2018 at The Westin Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Purchase your tickets today!

In honor of #GivingTuesday (a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media) the Erin Leigh Boyle Foundation is excited to announce that we are kicking off our second annual social media fundraising campaign today! Your unwavering support continues to impress us and leave us with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. For that reason, it seems only appropriate to launch this campaign during one of the most joyous times of the year, when we take a moment to be grateful for all that we have been given. Thank you, in advance, for joining us on this journey. Donate here.