HOPE VALLEY, RI (January 22, 2024) — Wood River Health has expanded its team by hiring Family Nurse Practitioner Alexa Allard, FNP-C; Integrated Behavioral Health Clinician Calli Duthrie, MSW, LCSW; Behavioral Health Advocate Nickolas Fitzgerald, CCHW, TTS; Director of Behavioral Health Christine King, MA; and Physician Assistant Elena Manchette, PA-C.
“Wood River Health’s vision is for every member of our community to experience physical, emotional and social well-being,” stated President and CEO Alison L. Croke, MHA. “It takes a highly dedicated team to make this vision a reality. We continue to recruit mission-driven individuals to deliver patient-centered care while empowering our patients to become active participants in their care.”
Alexa Allard, FNP-C joined Wood River Health in August 2023 as a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Allard obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from Salve Regina University. She has worked at Newport Hospital and for South County Health, where she has cared for patients and families in the hospital and in the community throughout Washington County. Allard undertook additional training focusing on the importance of dietary approaches to prevent and manage hypertension. She is passionate about incorporating individual and family-centered education in primary care to support prevention of illness and achieve wellness.
Calli Duthrie, MSW, LCSW is an integrated behavioral health clinician at Wood River Health who works with children, adolescents, and adults. She graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University with her bachelor’s degree in social work and Fordham University with her master’s in social work. Duthrie has experience in outpatient settings and mobile crisis, attending to at risk youth in the community. She has worked with children of all ages in educational and community settings both professionally and through her volunteer work in the community.
Nickolas Fitzgerald, CCHW, TTS joined Wood River Health as a Behavioral Health Advocate. He obtained his Certified Community Health Worker (CCHW) certification through the Rhode Island Certification Board and his Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) certification through training with CODAC and UMass Med. Fitzgerald has served on his local Health Equity Zone (HEZ) board and facilitated Consumer Advisory Boards. His previous position was at Gateway South Shore Center, where he served as a Care Coordinator, Case Manager and Tobacco Treatment Specialist. His resource navigation skills and passion for community care have helped many individuals in the Washington County area. As a Certified Community Health Worker, he has developed many partnerships and helped patients navigate the health care system.
Christine King, MA was recently welcomed as Wood River Health’s Director of Behavioral Health. A graduate of Providence College and the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, Christine has experience in Kingian Nonviolence Training, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and is pursuing a post Masters Certificate in Mental Health Counseling. King previously served for over 10 years as Executive Director of the Interfaith Counseling Center, where she led the organization in great growth and programmatic delivery. Her leadership skills and development of community connections have created a network of trauma healing services in Rhode Island. While trained as a counselor, she has blended her knowledge of the field and practice with leadership and community development to create partnerships, referrals paths, and collaborative services to provide accessible and barrier free care to those in need. King has served on a number of boards and committees in community organizations and is a 2016 MU graduate of Leadership Rhode Island.
Elena Manchette, PA-C, joined the Wood River Health team in November 2023 as a Physician Assistant (PA). She received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a minor in Psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of Rhode Island. She was then awarded the prestigious National Health Service Corps Scholarship and completed her Master of Science in PA Studies at Johnson & Wales University (JWU). At JWU, Manchette researched the impacts of providing social resources to vulnerable populations. She is passionate about working with underserved communities and committed to providing high-quality, patient-centered and humanistic primary healthcare services.
About Wood River Health
Since 1976, Wood River Health has delivered medical, dental and social services to the communities of southwestern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut. Its mission is to provide its patients with high-quality and affordable health care services through a compassionate, team-based approach. Its vision is for every member of its community to experience physical, emotional and social well-being.
A private, non-profit Community Health Center, Wood River Health is devoted to providing quality patient care to over 8,600 patients. It is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Patient-Centered Medical Home. As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Wood River Health receives funds from the HRSA Health Center Program to provide primary care services in underserved areas. For more information, visit WoodRiverHealth.org.
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