New Nurse Practitioner At SWC Community Clinic
After years of hard work and dedication, Jill Rogers has achieved her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner. Rogers will be filling the position left by Debbie Scheel following her retirement from Southwest City Community Clinic.
“I always wanted a rural location. When I got done with school, I’d heard a lot about this group of clinics,” Rogers said. “Then I heard about the opening. It was almost perfectly timed with me getting done with school, so I felt like it was a meant-to-be kind of thing.”
Rogers has worked in a clinical setting for more than a decade. A year after graduating high school, she began working as a CNA at Freeman Hospital in Neosho, where she managed every aspect of a patient’s well-being — walking, cleaning and feeding those in her care.
“I always knew I wanted to be in health care. When I was younger I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I outgrew that,” Rogers said. “Once I got started in nursing, I realized even more that it’s what I’m meant to do.”
After nine years at Freeman, Rogers spent two years at Integris Hospital in Grove, Okla.
“Even as a nurse, I worked in rural, smaller hospitals,” she said. “I love the people that I got to take care of. I wanted a clinic where I could get to know my patients and get to know their families. This clinic has more of a family atmosphere than you get in bigger settings.
“Not only that, but in a clinic setting, you get to know your patients a little better than in a hospital,” she said. “In a hospital, you see them for a few days, then you send them home and you don’t get to really follow up much. … In a clinic setting, you’re getting to follow them with their (illnesses) and see how they’re improving and make sure that they’re getting what they need to take care of themselves.”
The small-town charm of Southwest City is a quality that Rogers is
especially thankful for.
“I love it. All the people that have come in have been real nice, everyone who works here has been real welcoming,” she said.
Over the last month, Scheel has been working side by side with Rogers, who passes down wisdom — both professional and personal.
“It’s more the personal things about patients that she can teach me that helps me better take care of them,” Rogers said. “Just being able to understand the patient a little better before I walk into the exam room — that’s been great, having her insight.”
Rogers received her associate’s degree from Crowder College, her bachelor’s degree from Missouri Southern State University, and — most recently — her master’s degree from Maryville University.
Rogers lives in Neosho with her husband, Kyle, and their two children, Nathan and McKenzie. Kyle is a firefighter with the Neosho Fire Department. She looks forward to the quality time that her career change will allow her family.
“They’re getting older, more active in sports and activities,” Rogers said. “Clinic hours supply me a little more time to be home with them.”
Southwest City Community Clinic is located at 109 Broadway St. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; appointments can be scheduled by calling 417-762-3287. Dr. David Hill’s clinics see patients of all ages for acute and chronic conditions. They do complete adult physicals, DOT physicals, children’s wellness physicals and sports physicals, health screenings, preventative care and immunizations for all ages. They see prenatal and postpartum patients collaborating with an obstetric specialist.