The Keystone Health Employee Spotlight for March shines on Vanessa Rice, the Clinical Manager of Farmworker Health in Adams and Franklin Counties!
Vanessa began working at Keystone as an Outreach Nurse for the Farmworker Program in 2007.
“I was ready for a different type of nursing career,” she said. “Having married into a family with orchards, I wanted to serve the Farmworker population that keeps our county rural and beautiful and unique.”
She was promoted to a Clinical Manager position in 2016, which keeps her busy with various tasks throughout Adams and Franklin Counties.
“During the season we have outreach or clinics four nights per week which require planning, coordination, and physical work,” Vanessa said. “I am also responsible for coordination of patient care, risk management, staff recruitment and training, and managing medication and clinical inventory. Some days I am in Adams County, some days in Franklin, and some days in both!”
Vanessa enjoys her busy days, and loves her time with the patients.
“My favorite part of my job is outreach – meeting the patients on their turf and working outside. We truly reach out to our farmworkers and help them maneuver in a complex medical system. And we have fun while doing it! I love driving into the orchards in the late afternoon, and the rural, rolling drive from Adams County to Chambersburg once off Route 30 is relaxing.”
She is also thankful to her co-workers, who make her job even more enjoyable.
“I feel valued at Keystone – as an employee and as a person,” she said. “I’m proud to be a part of the Farmworker health staff; there is an abundance of caring and creativity in this group of people that I have found nowhere else in my nursing career.”
While Vanessa grew up in Maryland, she now calls Gettysburg home.
“I grew up in a tobacco town in southern Maryland,” she said. “My dad was a doctor, and he and Mom raised 10 children together. I went to Gettysburg College, and have lived within three blocks of the college nearly ever since! Gettysburg’s personality changes with the season – from a college town, to a tourist town, to a Harley town, to a ghost town. Its significance in history is a thread that runs through all of its personalities. I love it here.”
When she’s not at work, Vanessa has varied interests and hobbies that she enjoys.
“I love to play piano for The Gettysburg Community Theatre musical productions, and I’m trying to learn how to play concertina. I love to dance, and I teach tap dancing. I also enjoy riding my bike around town.
“But my greatest pleasure in the last five years has been the births of five grandchildren – and one on the way!”
Thank you, Vanessa, for all that you do for Keystone and our patients!
