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Anne Boston Parish, MSN, RN, CS, FNP-C
With over 30 years of nursing experience and 3 degrees under her belt, Family Nurse Practitioner Anne Boston Parish has seen almost everything, but she always had a desire to do more! She was ready to pursue her dream of making a difference in her community. In August 2001, she opened the Queen Street Clinic, a facility dedicated to providing care for the un- and underinsured. The clinic, located in Alexandria, Virginia, meets a critical need; in the U.S. alone there are more than 60 million medically uninsured individuals. Alexandria is home to more than 24,000 un- and underinsured working poor. These are the people who get up every day and go to work to put breakfast on the table, who are either not offered or cannot afford health insurance for themselves or their families.
Parish's clinic provides a full range of services-from check-ups to treatment of illness or injury. Thanks to support from local churches, she is able to offer discounted services (e.g. mammograms) to indigent patients who reside in Alexandria. She has also negotiated agreements with specialty service-providers, including laboratories, x-ray facilities, and pharmacies, to offer their services to her patients at reduced rates.
The establishment of the clinic was a labor of love. Out for a walk one day, Parish discovered the two-story, 1,848-square-foot building at 1000 Queen Street. It was conveniently located on bus lines and walking routes, so patients would not need a car to get there. After lengthy negotiations and a legal battle that essentially doubled the building's price, Parish prevailed. Next, she had to completely renovate the neglected, water-damaged property to make it suitable for a medical facility. She secured nearly $42,000 in in-kind donations-from lighting specialists to plumbers to electricians. With hammer and paint brush in hand, Parish went about repairing the broken and bruised building with the same care and concern for detail she uses in treating her patients. Her commitment and hard work are paying off now; since the Queen Street Clinic opened, Parish and her small staff have treated more than 20,000 patients. More then 60% of all treated patients return regularly for medical treatment and consider the clinic their medical home.
Portions as written in MU Today, Marymount University, Parish's alma mater |
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