Michele Sturt

Beth Anne Piehl, Special Sections Writer
 
It’s difficult for Michele Sturt to not get attached to patients who come to Petoskey’s Community Free Clinic.

So she does.

“I’m in a privileged position, I believe, to be here, because I have a chance to understand what’s going on in people’s lives,” said Sturt, a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN and RN. “Nobody knows what these people are going through.”

With an empathetic heart and a desire to help others, Sturt is one of the medical professionals who keep the free clinic in Petoskey operating. She works in a paid position at the facility and also volunteers considerable time there, in between her nursing work at Internal Medicine of Northern Michigan.

Her background is as a staff nurse in emergency room and critical care positions, and after marrying her husband, Daniel, the two eventually returned to their native Michigan, eventually moving to Petoskey in 1988.

“Both of us had at some point come up here and we wanted to have a place up here,” said Sturt, adding the family members are avid skiers. “We decided to just move up here.”

For 12 years at Internal Medicine, she’s worked with patients experiencing health conditions across the board. Ten years ago, Sturt noticed an article in the paper announcing the opening of the free clinic and, having been involved with free clinics in other cities, “I wanted to be part of it,” she said.

She began by volunteering and is now one of the core paid staff that keep the clinic running. Sturt also serves on the nine-member clinic board which holds quarterly meetings to discuss issues related to patient care and running the clinic effectively in the face of increasing community need.

Because the clinic treats all who qualify and are uninsured, free of charge, looking ahead has been part of the board’s duties from day one. One of the changes in recent years has been in who is eligible; the clinic now only treats Emmet County residents, a change from when it first opened.

“Unless there’s change dramatically in our health care system, this clinic needs to be able to see more people,” Sturt said.

The needs of the clientele have shifted, too, Sturt noted, from patients with general colds and coughs to those with chronic cases of diseases and illness like diabetes and cancer.

“With the health-care crisis, we see everyone,” Sturt said. “Now we’re seeing people who had been seen before by specialists … There is nowhere else to go.”

The clinic doctors and nurses see patients Wednesday evenings beginning at 6 p.m., until whenever the last patient has been treated. Staff members, paid and volunteer, put in much more time than that, however.

Numerous volunteer hours are clocked all week long, following up on patient care and on more complicated cases, calling on lab test results and arranging for free medications. Often, staff members like Sturt are the liaison between patients and area specialists as well, and she added that Northern Michigan Regional Hospital leadership, doctors, surgeons, nurses and staff have been “very generous” in support of the clinic.

Those whose heart is in the mission of the clinic also find themselves working on fundraising and raising public awareness about the clinic and its services. For the past five years, Sturt herself has organized a Wellness Walk to benefit the clinic, held during Petoskey’s summer Festival on the Bay. The walk has raised several thousand dollars to support the clinic’s operations.

It’s a cause that has grown near to her through the years, and it’s why she takes the time to talk with patients, hear their stories and understand their struggles. She knows it’s not easy for many of the individuals and families who come to the Wednesday night clinics to put pride aside and ask for help.

“It’s difficult for them to ask for something for free,” Sturt said. “We work really hard to make this clinic just like any other place and treat them with respect and dignity.”

She recalled the case of one young mother who came in with her new baby, feeling ill and not knowing the cause. The diagnosis was diabetes, caught before she became more and more sick.

“The patients that we have are wonderful people. Their lives are complicated and difficult,” Sturt said. “They have such incredible stories, and they always teach me something.”

The Vitals:

Who she is: Michele Sturt of Petoskey
What she does: A Certified Family Nurse Practitioner (CFNP), MSN and RN, Sturt works at Internal Medicine of Northern Michigan and is on staff and volunteers with the Community Free Clinic in Petoskey. She is also president of the Michigan Council of Nurse Practitioners Petoskey Chapter, a legislative advocacy organization.
Family and background: Husband Daniel, and four grown sons, ages 19-27; Detroit-area native; nursing school, Michigan State University
She’s on YouTube: Sturt put together a short video, “Crisis in Health Care,” featuring four patients of the Community Free Clinic. Find it by going to www.youtube.com and typing in “Petoskey free clinic” in the search bar.
Interests and service: Running, following her sons’ soccer and skiing events, past board member at Montessori and the Petoskey Education Foundation