HOPKINTON – Wood River Health Center announced it has expanded its team with five new hires.
Joining Wood River’s staff are family nurse practitioner Alexa Allard, integrated behavioral health clinician Calli Duthrie, behavioral health advocate Nickolas Fitzgerald, Director of Behavioral Health Christine King and physician assistant Elena Manchette.
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“Wood River Health’s vision is for every member of our community to experience physical, emotional and social well-being,” said Wood River CEO and President Alison L. Croke. “It takes a highly dedicated team to make this vision a reality. We continue to recruit mission-driven individuals to deliver patient-centered care while empowering our patients to become active participants in their care.”
Allard joined Wood River in August 2023 as a board-certified family nurse practitioner. Allard earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from Salve Regina University. She has worked at Newport Hospital and for South County Health, where she has cared for patients and families throughout Washington County.
Allard has also done additional training focused on dietary approaches to manage hypertension and is passionate about incorporating education in primary care to boost wellness and prevent illness, according to a news release.
Duthrie is an integrated behavioral health clinician at Wood River Health who works with children, adolescents and adults. She graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University with a bachelor’s in social work and earned her master’s in social work from Fordham University.
Duthrie has worked in outpatient settings and mobile crisis, treating at-risk youths in the community. Through her professional and volunteer work, Duthrie has worked with children of all ages in educational and community settings, according to the release.
Fitzgerald earned his Certified Community Health Worker certification through the Rhode Island Certification Board and his Tobacco Treatment Specialist certification by training with CODAC Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center. He has also served on his local Health Equity Zone board.
Fitzgerald previously worked at Gateway South Shore Center, where he served as a care coordinator, case manager and tobacco treatment specialist. As a certified community health worker, he has developed many partnerships and helped patients navigate the health care system, according to the release.
King graduated from Providence College and Boston College Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. She has worked in Kingian nonviolence training, mindfulness-based stress reduction and is pursuing a post-master’s certificate in mental health counseling. King previously served as executive director of the Interfaith Counseling Center in Providence for 10 years, where she led the organization in growth and programmatic delivery.
King’s skills and development of community connections have created a network of trauma healing services in Rhode Island. While trained as a counselor, she blended her knowledge of the field and practice with leadership and community development to form partnerships, referral paths and services to provide accessible care for those in need. King has served on a number of boards and committees in community organizations and is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, according to the release.
Manchette joined Wood River in November 2023 and received a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences with a minor in psychology from the University of Rhode Island. She was then awarded a National Health Service Corps Scholarship and completed her Master of Science in physician assistant studies at Johnson & Wales University.
While attending Johnson & Wales, Manchette researched the effects of providing social resources to vulnerable populations. She is passionate about helping underserved communities and committed to providing quality, patient-centered and humanistic primary care services, according to the release.
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
