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Nancy Anness, MSN, APN, Vice President of Advocacy,
Access and Community Outreach
Saint Thomas Health Services

Healthcare that’s safe … healthcare that works … and healthcare that leaves no one behind –– these are the three mandates of Ascension Health, parent organization of Saint Thomas Health Services.

For Nancy Anness, an advanced practice nurse and a leader in STHS’ efforts to bring quality care to the underserved, the mandates aren’t just dry words in a corporate document but a physical call to action.

In her role advocating for the poor and reaching out to the uninsured through STHS community clinics, Nancy Anness has passionately … and tirelessly … accepted the mission to work toward the goal of 100 percent access to healthcare and 100 percent coverage for all citizens.

From the time she was a teenager, Anness has felt a calling to help those who lacked the resources to help themselves. Growing up in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Anness found role models in her hard-working parents. At the age of 40, her mother became a nurse, leaving a factory job behind. Today, her 76-year-old mother is still a full-time practicing RN.

It was that same determination and dedication that brought Anness to graduate school at Vanderbilt. After graduation, she worked in a rural health setting in Hartsville, Tennessee through United Neighborhood Health Services until she was recruited by Vanderbilt to start the Vine Hill Community Clinic. In 1995, she joined STHS to launch community clinics to serve the poor.

“I love the patients I serve as a practicing Family Nurse Practitioner. I also love empowering and encouraging others to serve those who are poor and vulnerable with respect and dignity,” she commented. “As healthcare professionals, we are called to make a difference in the lives of others.”

She added it is a great gift to be able to empower those who are less fortunate. “Their journey may be much more difficult than ours, but we who have been given much are called upon to give hope, health and healing,” she said.

Anness added that even small changes could make a powerful difference in someone’s life. Through her clinical practice, she has witnessed the transformation when someone is given the tools to control their diabetes or improve their weight through nutrition and exercise counseling.

“Those are life changing events,” she said, adding, “We take care of the whole person … behavioral healthcare, spiritual care, nutritional care, preventative care. You have to incorporate prevention into everything you do. Even in those who are already sick, we can provide hope.”

While Anness relishes the hands-on time she spends with patients, she is also excited about the advocacy role she assumed at the beginning of 2008. “There are more than 47 million uninsured Americans –– this issue is challenging for all of us.” She added that as part of her organization’s commitment to full access and coverage, Saint Thomas and Ascension Health were using their ideas, influence and actions to speak for those who often go unheard.

As if her busy job doesn’t keep her on the run enough, Anness spends her off hours training for marathons and chasing after her active five-year-old, Grayson, who she adopted from Guatemala. Grayson, said his proud mother, loves sports and already shows a penchant for athletics as the lead scorer on his soccer team.

Whether serving as chief cheerleader for her son or for those who lack access to care, Anness is a powerful, vocal advocate.



May 2008

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