SMCH and McCrary Rost Clinic welcomes Carrie Goodwin

The providers and staff at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital and McCrary Rost Clinic are pleased to welcome psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner Carrie Goodwin, according to an Oct. 27 news release.

Goodwin grew up in Somers, and earned her bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Iowa. Moving back to the area, she worked as a nurse on the med/surg unit and intensive care unit at a rural hospital.

After a few years, she moved to the emergency department full-time. Subsequently, she became a school nurse and health science instructor within the Southeast Valley School District.

The mental health of her patients and the lack of resources in rural areas for mental healthcare became a passion for Goodwin.

“Throughout my career, I saw a need for mental health providers in rural communities,” Goodwin said. “A real cause for concern was the statistics I saw for Webster and Greene Counties that have a higher rate of ACEs (adverse childhood experience scores) than Polk County. This means that more people in those two counties reported four or more ACEs than one of the mostly densely populated counties in the state of Iowa. I had always wanted to be a nurse practitioner, so I went back to the University of Iowa and earned those degrees.”

Goodwin states that treatment of a patient’s mental health requires work on all areas.

“Mental health is not just about taking a pill,” Goodwin said. “It is a holistic treatment; taking care of multiple aspects of a person’s overall health, like movement and sleep patterns.”

Ms. Goodwin joins Dr. Margaret Vitiritto and Liz Peterson, PA-C at McCrary Rost Clinic in Gowrie and Barb Weber, ARNP-C, and Tonja Petersen-Anderson, ARNP-C at McCrary Rost Clinic, Rockwell City.

“As Calhoun County and the Rolling Hills Community Services Region have focused on improving mental health services to the region over the past several years, Stewart Memorial has been a collaborating partner with the mental health teams,” SMCH CEO Cindy Carstens said. “Being able to add Carrie Goodwin, PMHNP, to our clinics allows that collaboration to continue to develop and expand additional services in the Gowrie and Rockwell City communities.”

“The need for increasing mental health services only continues to grow and this has been quite evident this past year due to isolation related to COVID-19 and the impact that has made on an individual’s mental health,” Carstens added.

When she isn’t treating patients, Goodwin enjoys spending time with her children and her dogs. She also loves to sing, along with quilting, crocheting and other types of crafting.

To make an appointment with Goodwin, call McCrary Rost Clinic in Gowrie at (515) 352-3891 or in Rockwell City at (712) 297-8989.