SIDNEY – A certified nurse practitioner with over a decade of experience caring for Shelby County has recently opened her own practice.
Dawn Macke opened Macke Family Practice in October after previously working at Wilson Health for 14 years and Kettering Health for two and a half years. She runs the practice with Rachel Daniel, who has been a certified medical assistant for nine years, and a receptionist will be starting after the first of the year.
“This is the first time managing my own business. I have very loyal patients that gave me a lot of encouragement to start a private practice. Through starting my own practice, I have learned every aspect of owning a business,” Macke said. “I decided to open my own practice because I want to be able to spend as much time as needed with my patients. The hospital systems focus on quantity not quality, so they want you to see as many patients daily as possible which is not fair or safe for the patients.”
Macke’s patients took to Facebook to praise Macke and Daniel’s hospitality when Macke announced that she was starting her own practice. While they were still setting up, they notified potential patients through Facebook that they could come to pick up paperwork over two days. During that time, they handed out around 200 paperwork packets.
Macke said she started a nursing career to help people, as she has had positive experiences with nurses in the past.
“When my mother was in the hospital at the end of her life the nurses who took care of her and her family were very understanding and that really stayed with me. Then when my daughter had to have surgery as a small child the nurses treated her nicely and that stayed with me. When I was laid off my manufacturing scheduling job, I applied to nursing school so I could help people as the nurses helped my family during our hard time,” Macke said.
Macke listed the process that a nurse practitioner has to go through before opening a practice, including getting the name of the practice approved by the state, finding a building to buy or lease, getting licenses and credentials from insurance companies, and furnishing the space.
“My experience (managing the practice) thus far has been very overwhelming. I have some patients that have followed me from place to place but I have also received a lot of new patients that I have never seen before which is very encouraging,” Macke said.
The practice offers services for all ages including treatment for acute illnesses and chronic conditions, lab services, immunizations, and in-house testing for strep, flu, and COVID-19.
Macke Family Practice is located at 1025 Fair Road in Sidney. For more information, visit the Facebook page; mackefamilypractice.com; or call 937-492-1352.
