Summary

Philadelphia’s Family Practice and Counseling Network (FPCN) has helped to spawn a national movement toward nurse-managed care that is reshaping the way primary care is delivered in medically underserved communities. As traditional models of primary care delivery come under increasing strain because of exorbitant costs and increasing demand, nurse practitioners have come to the forefront as the primary care providers of the future, delivering care to hard-to-reach populations through nurse-managed health centers. These centers, often located in schools, public housing developments and homeless shelters, work with the communities they serve to offer high-quality, accessible and affordable primary care to low-income, underserved communities in Philadelphia and across the nation.

FPCN is a network of three nurse-managed health centers that touches thousands of the city’s most needy residents with its unique band of holistic care including primary care, wellness and disease prevention services. But FPCN founder Donna Torrisi, a nurse practitioner herself, is not just a social entrepreneur who has risen to meet a local need; she is emblematic of a national trend.   Her centers have shown that nurse-managed health centers can be successful not only in Philadelphia but across the United States, thriving despite challenges because they are based on a model that treats not only the symptoms of disease but the whole person, and have shown the capacity to cut costs by lessening the burden of chronic disease and reducing emergency room usage.