Pratt’s newest members of the medical community bring some unique qualifications to their positions. Dr. Eric Clarkson will begin seeing patients next month at Pratt Family Practice and his wife, Dr. Amy Clarkson, will work part-time for South Wind Hospice.
Dr. Eric Clarkson is an osteopathic physician (DO) who has a master’s degree in health care leadership, with an interest in improving how healthcare is delivered — a hot button issue at the current time — and, with a private pilot’s license, he is also interested in aviation medicine.
Patients should find it easier to schedule an appointment with Pratt Family Practice, he said, explaining that Dr. Steven Donnenwerth is the only physician accepting new patients, while Drs. Cannata and Fowler are both booked up.
With four physicians and two physician assistants in the practice, they are exploring the possibility of designating one physician each day to urgent care, relieving pressure on the hospital emergency room and reducing costs to patients. They may also be able to offer some evening and weekend appointments in the future, he said.
“We would like to see us have the reputation in the community, ‘oh yeah, just call them, they’ll get you right in,’” Clarkson said.
A factor in the family’s decision to move to Pratt was the availability of a position for Amy Clarkson in a field she loves and is passionate about, while also allowing time to spend with their children, Tess, 3 ½, Cade, 1 ½, and a baby due in January.
Pratt is one of only a few rural communities with access to a large hospice home. Such facilities are usually only available in large cities, she said.
South Wind Hospice Home is an asset for Pratt and having the area’s only physician trained in palliative care — preventing and relieving suffering and supporting the best quality of life for patients and their families — “will put it on the map,” she predicted.
With an undergraduate minor in art, she said other “draws” for the town are Pratt Community College and the projected Vernon W. Filley Art Museum.
Amy and Eric Clarkson earned bachelor’s degrees at Mid America Nazarene University in Olathe. He graduated from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and she received her medical training from Kansas University Medical School. Both completed family medicine residencies at KU Medical Center and she has worked for two years at Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care.
Moving to Pratt is “almost like coming home,” Eric Clarkson said, although he grew up in Cimarron.
His parents, Terry and Linda Clarkson, have lived in Pratt for a little over a year; his grandmother, Delpha Clarkson is a resident; and his uncle, Jerry Clarkson, is a nurse anesthetist at Pratt Regional Medical Center.
