Health and Fitness : Family Nurse Practioner for Behavior Health speaks to area Kiwanis

Samantha Jirak, is a Family Nurse Practioner for Behavior Health at Vinton Family Medical Clinic. She addressed the Kiwanis Club on Tuesday.

Starting her job three years ago and hired by then administrator Mike Riege, he saw a need for mental health services in the community. She began her job with Virginia Gay Hospital, and said on her first day of work, she saw only two patients. Today the need has grown and Jirak now works with Bonnie Seely to provide care in our community.

Working primarily in the psych mental health area, she travels from her home in Center Point to serve at the clinic. Treatment that is used, she said, is both medication and therapy based.

The service has been opened up beyond just Virginia Gay Hospital to the Unity Point Clinics as well.

The two work with patients from those with a formal diagnosis of mental health issues to those just struggling right now with tough times in their lives. The team feels that sometimes a mixture of medication and therapy is the best solution. Of course, working with the patients to discover what will work best in each situation determines treatment.

Right now Jirak's schedule has her seeing between eight and thirteen patients a day and that leaves one slot available for a new patient in her day. The two providers see approximately 150 patients per month in their offices. Ages for care vary from as young as five to the elderly. She said that sometimes with the younger patients it might just be tweaking parenting issues to help the child.

Jirak said that they aren't afraid to refer someone out to a different provider if they don't feel that they might the best equipped to care for a patient. During the pandemic, she said that they've seen more school based anxiety issues with the changes in routine of the school years.

Right now the schedule is so tight that if there is an emergency situation, unless it's someone already in their care, they will refer the patient to Cedar Rapids or Waterloo to receive immediate treatment. Right now she said that they are booked about a month out for new patients.

Foundation 2 has become a resource for the practitioners to utilize as well as Tanager Place and other organizations. The two will also use the Abbey Center in town, especially for children.

She often deals with anxiety, depression, and PTSD as some of the more common disorders. While patients who might suffer from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder need a service they have found that better care can be provided through some of the other avenues available.

Jirak said that sometimes the biggest challenges might be making sure that patients have a ride to their appointments. She said in mental illness, some of the basic needs aren't always being met.

Often mental health care is looked at in a way that says if you don't have a diagnosed problem, those services aren't for you. "But," Jurak said, "in reality, we're all going through our own challenges and struggles. Our services can help anyone. At the end of the day, we're all working on our mental health every day. It's just that there are some points in our life where we need to reach out."