Trinity Community Health Centers of Louisiana a mission to provide quality healthcare to the people of the six parishes (Winn, Grant, Rapides, Avoyelles, Lincoln and Bienville) it serves. Launched as Winn Community Health Center in July 2009, they’ve grown dramatically over the past 15 years to have served 144,999 patients last year through the skills of 300 employees.
CEO Deano Thornton was quoted as saying, “We want to bring more specialty services to our communities. Several expansion projects are in the works.” As proof, Trinity offers (at various clinics) pediatrics, mental health and behavioral services, dental health, podiatry, gastro-intestinal services, neurologist and diagnostic testing for eye care and diabetes.
Yet at the heart of Trinity’s mission to the community is offering quality primary healthcare for the many issues that affect families, accomplished through their team of professionals. One member of that team is Terri Roberts, FNPC, (Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified) in Winn.
The Chatham native attended Dodson High School after Sikes closed while she was in kindergarten. She attended Louisiana Tech but that provided only a two-year nursing degree so she went on to ULM where she received her BS degree in Nursing, then on to NSU where she received her MS degree in nursing.
“While I studied for my degrees, I worked at the Winn Parish Medical Center’s ER. I really liked working in the ER. Then 12 years ago, I was looking for a job. Tony Acosta called and Deano Thornton gave me a chance because I was a nurse practitioner just out of school at the time.”
Asked the role of a nurse practitioner, Terri replied, “I take care of families…people who are sick.” A nurse practitioner handles many of the same duties as doctors. Included are physical exams, diagnosing and treating diseases and other health conditions, and prescribing medication.
“An advantage to working with Trinity is its network of professionals. If something comes up that I need help with, I can call. Our Medical Director, Dr. Joan Walker comes to our Winn clinic on a scheduled basis but I can call her or any of our other specialists as needed to help my patients.”
She adds, “I work alongside a lot of great people. I think I’ve been here this long because they work together as a team.”
Terri is married to Andy Roberts, an investigator with the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office. They have three children, Sadie and Sarah, age 9, and Owen, ages 6.
