ACADEMICS Wegmans School of Nursing
Fisher Prime Care Nursing Center: One Year Later In 2012, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced a $1 million grant to St. John Fisher College to be used over five years to expand primary health care, mental health care, social services, and adult education for Rochester’s underserved populations. Dr. Dianne Cooney Miner, Dean, Wegmans School of Nursing, was instrumental in securing the grant.
The College used the money to create the Fisher Prime Care Nursing Center at St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center, working closely with Executive Director, Sister Christine Wagner, SSJ. The center provides new patient, acute, follow-up, and primary care services for up to 60 patients on a weekly basis, and expands
educational opportunities for students in the School of Nursing. After having its doors open for a full year of service, Dr. Virginia Krebbeks, Medical Director of the center and Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing, says so far, so good. Krebbeks said that the collaboration has led to several positive outcomes. One of those has been the ability of Fisher’s nursing staff to obtain clinical data for statistical analysis, which has contributed to the concept that advanced practice nursing and mental health counseling students—guided by experienced faculty—have a positive influence on the advancement of health care for the uninsured and undocumented members of the Rochester
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