New Provider Leigh C. Smith Joins HPC
By Catherine Rice, Vice President of Marketing/Outreach at Health Partnership Clinic
Health Partnership Welcomes New Family Nurse Practitioner to Mobile Integrated Health Team
A patient-first attitude has driven Leigh C. Smith’s interest as a healthcare provider since her earliest years. With her mother a nurse and her grandfather a physician, the empathy bug was quick to follow. As a teenager watching her family’s experiences with illness, she saw the need for advocacy, someone whose job was to double-check how medications and bandages were administered.
Leigh’s New Role
Leigh’s new role helps Health Partnership Clinic expand the Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) team, a program that partners with the Olathe Fire Department and Olathe Health/The University of Kansas Health System to serve Olathe patients challenged to come to a clinic for care or who even live unhoused. Some might see the team as a health care version of “Meals on Wheels.”
Leigh is committed to meeting patients “where they are,” whether literally or figuratively. Having done so previously at other local facilities—and with HPC expanding its in-the-field MIH program to five days a week from three—the transition allows her to continue the work she feels she was always meant to do: helping local uninsured or underserved populations. Some patients may not speak English or haven’t experienced health care routinely or at all.
In providing on-the-spot services, Leigh first addresses the patients’ health care “to-do” list such as vaccinations, bloodwork or taking vital signs. Prioritizing patients’ needs then creates the trust to segue into deeper issues like poorly managed diabetes. Such care also paves the way for repeat or in-clinic visits to enhance the patients’ healthcare journey.
She says, “I approach all patient interactions on their terms first to gain their trust and help improve their overall health.”
Education
Leigh received a Doctor of Nursing Practice (FNP) from the University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kan., and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences, Kansas City, Mo. She is a licensed advanced registered nurse practitioner in Kansas and Missouri, a certified pediatric nurse and is BLS certified through the American Heart Association.
Personal
Leigh and her husband live in Olathe, sharing acreage with three dogs, two cats, pigs and chickens. An avid reader, she completes about 150 books annually.
Leigh staffs our Mobile Integrated Health Team and sees patients at our Olathe Clinic.
