Community Health Centers Welcomes Nurse Practitioner

[Cut line: New Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa Nurse Practitioner Vickie Harris and Dr. Abel Cruz work together to assure their patients receive the best care available.]

Vickie Harris recently joined the provider staff of the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa (CHCSI) as a Nurse Practitioner. Vickie has had over 20 years of nursing practice and health care experience in medical and behavioral health including direct patient care and education, management, and administration. She will be seeing patients in both Leon and Lamoni.

Her over 20 years of experience includes primary care medicine, occupational health, wound clinic, diagnosing and managing diseases, sports injuries, and urgent care accidents and injuries. In addition to her responsibilities at CHCSI, Vickie will also be on the Graceland University faculty.

Vickie received her diploma in nursing from the Methodist School of Nursing in St. Joseph, MO and her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, MO. After several years working as a nurse, Vickie attended the University of Missouri – Kansas City where she received a Masters of Science: Family Nurse Practitioner. She completed a Postmasters Certification Program at the University of Missouri – Columbia to qualify as a Psychiatry Nurse Practitioner. Vickie is board certified as both a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse.

“The Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa is very excited to have Vickie working with us,” Gary Rees, CEO, said. “Her background in both medical and behavioral care is a perfect fit for us – and for our community.”

Vickie joins Drs. Patricia Magle, Medical Director, and Abel Cruz at the health centers. For the past 23 years, Dr. Magle has practiced in Decatur County. She has worked in general medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, college health, and sports medicine. In addition, she has assisted in surgery and provided emergency medical care at Decatur County Hospital. Dr. Magle is board certified in Family Medicine.

Dr. Abel Cruz began providing medical care to the Decatur County community in September, 2004.  He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, and Rheumatology. 

Two schedule an appointment with Vickie or any one of our other providers, call (641) 446-2383 in Leon or (641) 784-7911 in Lamoni.