Healthy Connections is proud to welcome the services of Samantha Stovall, APRN, to our clinic in Mena.

Stovall, who lives in Pencil Bluff, will see family medical/primary care patients at 136 Health Park Drive in Mena. She is available Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (888) 710-8220 for an appointment.

Serving the community has always been a part of Stovall’s life. For more than 15 years, she served as the school nurse at Oden schools.

“I worked full time and went back to school. I was also on the board for Healthy Connections, Inc., and I felt like it was a great place. I had a good working relationship with some of the providers at the Mount Ida clinic. And I did my clinicals in Mount Ida. So Healthy Connections was a good fit,” Stovall said.

As a family nurse practitioner, Stovall is a registered nurse with specialized educational and clinical training in family practice. Family Nurse Practitioners are trained to work with both children and adults, most often in the context of a family practice setting. They work with patients on maintaining health and wellness over the long term with a particular focus on preventative care.

“I think serving your community is such a big thing. We live in such a high poverty area and we can provide care to so many who aren’t otherwise receiving care,” she said. “As a school nurse, I felt like I was serving my community. I’m still serving, just in a different way.”

Healthy Connections is a Mena-based nonprofit organization serving the needs of children and adults throughout West-Central Arkansas. Since its founding in 1998 as a home-visiting program, Healthy Connections has been able to provide much-needed health, dental and social services to families of every lifestyle.

Healthy Connections accepts Medicaid, including ArKids First, Medicare and most forms of health and dental insurance. However, no person will be turned away for lack of insurance. Qualified families will be charged according to their total family income and total persons living in the household. This sliding scale fee allows many to receive treatment who otherwise would not have been able to afford it.

There are currently 10 clinics located in Mena, Hot Springs, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Mount Ida, and De Queen providing primary care/family medicine. Depending on location, Healthy Connections also offers dental, behavioral health, cardiology, pediatrics, podiatry, chiropractic, physical therapy, and OB/GYN women’s services.

“I’m excited to be here. I love pediatrics and hope to see several pediatrics patients,” Stovall said.

Learn more at www.healthy-connections.org.