Anthony Around Town – Everyone has a story. What’s yours?
Carrie Power of MORNING STAR HEALTH CENTER
We have some wonderful neighbors who own/manager some fantastic local businesses and serve our town tremendously by doing so!
This week, we’re joined by Carrie Power of Morning Star Health Center. The center, itself, has been open for the last twelve years, with Carrie leading the charge as the facility’s family nurse practitioner. Carrie and her fabulous staff work hard every day to help people’s bodies feel better on the inside as well as feel and look great on the outside! We’ll let Carrie explain more about her practice in a second, but first, let’s hear about how she came to open Morning Star!
Carrie and her fabulous staff work hard every day to help people’s bodies feel better on the inside…
“I’ve been a nurse practitioner for a long time. In 1980, I completed my OBGYN nurse practitioner program. Sixteen years, or so, I went back through another program to become a family practitioner because I wanted to do more to help the community. My goal was to have my own practice, but I worked for the government for a while; I worked for Indian Health Services. After some time, I opened my own facility here in Elko.“
Share with us some of the specifics of your work? What is Morning Star Health Center, and what does the practice offer its patients?
“We are a nurse practitioner owned and operated clinic. Nurse practitioners often have a more holistic training, and we care for patients from infancy to the elderly. We do primary health care, so we’re the people you’d come to for your health screenings. We also have the Cleveland Clinic here, who are huge and do a lot of work with telemedicine.”
“On the other side of our business, we have a medical spa, weight-loss program, rejuvenation therapies, and lots of other things to make you look beautiful and feel good about yourself. We also have lots of different devices and machinery to help with aesthetics. It’s really quite amazing what we can do here, and we have a lot of fun with it all!”
When it comes to helping people reach their goals, aesthetically, what is the most common thing people are looking to achieve?
“They want to look younger. They want to get rid of their lumps, wrinkles bumps, and fat pockets all to look younger. I think this is a universal desire we all have because we all want to look our best and feel the best about ourselves.”
Is there anything that makes life as a nurse practitioner particularity challenging, in your opinion, Carrie?
“In the past, there’s been many things. Now, nurse practitioners are independent in Nevada, which has been a huge improvement for us. In the past, as a nurse practitioner, you either had to work for someone or pay someone to monitor everything you did. This change happened only a few years ago, and I celebrated! I was now free to fully do what I wanted to do!”
Carrie, you moved to Elko for work then started your business and adopted this town as your home. Why did you decide to stay and open Morning Star here of all places?
“I like Elko. It’s a nice community. I like the people, the lifestyle, and my family has a strong mining background, so it was a natural fit for my husband, who is a retired miner, and me. I think this community has a fabulous future ahead of it. I think it’s going to grow and prosper, while also keeping its roots. Specifically, in the health field, I think there’s going to be many great improvements; great things are coming.”
Well, I’m sure many members of our community, and their bodies, are happy you are choosing to invest in this area! Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you and Morning Star Health Center before we let you get back to your patients?
“I love helping people either get well or helping prevent them from becoming ill. I love it, and I know I’ve been called to do it ever since I was a child.”
“This is a Christian clinic; that is number one. If our patients want us to, we will pray with them, and we (the staff) pray together, frequently. We try to take care of our patients the same someone would take care of their family.”
