Ellen Knipfer, Family Nurse Practitioner
Door County Medical Center is excited to announce that Ellen Knipfer, Family Nurse Practitioner at our Sturgeon Bay Clinic, has started accepting patients at the Algoma Clinic. Ms. Knipfer is bringing over a decade’s worth of diverse experience to the clinic, having previously worked on the Medical/Surgical Unit at DCMC, then in Infection Prevention and Employee Health, and more recently serving as Director of the ICU and the Medical/Surgical Unit.
Now, Ellen is looking forward to working with the Algoma community to make the kind of choices that lead to a healthier and more fulfilling life. “After more than 10 years at DCMC, I decided to leave my job as director after completing a Master’s Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I’m really glad that I made that decision, because after working in internal medicine, I saw a lot of chronic illness. Now, I feel I am better positioned to help my patients make the lifestyle changes that I feel they need to make in order to address, and hopefully prevent, those illnesses.”
It’s about education
“It’s about getting off the couch,” says Ellen, “it’s about getting out from behind the computer; it’s about changing eating habits. In general, it’s really about education, and nurses really are educators. So, one of the things I’m interested in bringing to the Algoma clinic is education—I want to teach people how, on a daily basis, to make the kinds of simple choices that will positively effect their overall health.”
Beyond that, Ellen is interested in getting involved in the Algoma community. “I’m looking forward to the move,” she says, “and I’m looking forward to finding out what kinds of healthy lifestyle changes are needed in the community, and how best to effect those changes.”
Ellen Knipfer, APNP, started seeing patients at the Algoma Clinic on Monday, January 29th. To make an appointment please call (920) 487-3496. Door County Medical Center’s Algoma Clinic is located at 815 Jefferson Street in downtown Algoma.