We
SPOTLIGHT ON
River Valley Wellness : A Holistic Approach to Wellness and Addiction Medicine
BY CASEY PENN
“
’ re not your run-of-the-mill organization or practice ,” said Kristin Martin , DO , MS , FAAFP . As the chief executive officer and medical director for River Valley Medical Wellness , Dr . Martin works alongside Joseph Zitterman , MD ; Jamie Zimmerman APRN , FNP-BC ; Lindsey Sharp APRN , FNP-BC ; Brittney Shanek APRN , FNP-C ; and Kristen Coffman , MSN , APRN PHMNP-BC in the fields of primary care and addiction medicine . That brief description does little to scratch the surface of all that this team does to provide care for patients in need .
Kristin Martin , DO , ( seated ) with her staff , ( left ) Lindsey Sharp , APRN and ( right ) Jamie Zimmerman , APRN .
River Valley Wellness applied for the AMS “ Our Fight is Against COVID ” mini-grant to help the clinic primarily with COVID vaccination efforts . But that , too , is misleading in its simplicity , as much of the clinic ’ s vaccination efforts are tied closely to a whole host of other services it provides daily .
River Valley Wellness is based primarily in Russellville , and its mission is to serve rural , underserved , and vulnerable populations struggling with substance use and mental health disorders . The group is available statewide for consult and telemedicine but focuses on serving patients in 19 rural Arkansas counties , including : Ashley , Clark , Conway , Crawford , Drew , Faulkner , Franklin , Garland , Hot Springs , Johnson , Logan , Montgomery , Perry , Pike , Polk , Pope , Sebastian , Scott , and Yell .
“ The River Valley team provides wrap-around services with primary and addiction medical care , licensed professional counseling , and certified peer recovery support services . We began in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden void of primary care and recovery services left by other organizations ,” said Dr . Martin . “ During the past 17 months , we have provided over 1,700 patient contacts in seven of eight catchment areas , in coordination with 10 rural hospitals , eight residential treatment centers , four detox centers , and three reentry programs . We support all roads to recovery and wellness and provide 24-hour call service through in person , telemedicine , and onsite visits to anyone who needs assistance , despite ability to pay .”
With the goal being to save lives , stabilize individuals and families , reduce relapse , decrease recidivism , and bridge the gap in care and services in our communities , the number of patients needing assistance has multiplied at astonishing numbers each day . Dr . Martin recognized the limitations of the number of patients the clinic could serve in one primary location due to limited physical space . “ We recently purchased a new property in Russellville and have rented a new office in Hot Springs , which allows us to expand our services to include COVID-19 vaccination , COVID-19 testing / medical care , and acute care services . We have four mobile units that travel to rural areas to treat patients and provide testing , intervention services ,” said Dr . Martin .
BEING “ IN THE KNOW ”
“ Part of the interesting thing about our practice is that we were all working as emergency care providers , but each of our medical providers is also board certified in family practice ,” said Dr . Martin . “ So , we ’ ve always been able to see both sides of the coin as far as inpatient and outpatient care . With the primary model or outpatient model , when people can ’ t get to resources , they come to emergency rooms – certainly for trauma , heart attacks and strokes . We ’ ve all been ER providers for a long time , but what we ’ ve witnessed over the past few years is what happens when typical resources are cut off to people . Maybe they can ’ t go inside to see their provider because they ’ re sick ; maybe their provider ’ s offices are being closed due to someone retiring or the substantial number of providers and health care workers who have been ill from treating the COVID-19 crisis .”
Since the start of the pandemic , particularly in her work in the ER , Dr . Martin has seen – in addition to people coming in sick with COVID – a significant increase in overdose and mental health issues . Specifically , she witnessed people who were severely depressed , suicidal ,
174 THE JOURNAL OF THE ARKANSAS MEDICAL SOCIETY