Three new providers join hospital and clinic
GMH held an open house to welcome its three new providers on Thursday, April 12. From left are Dr. Tamara Holzer and Family Nurse Practitioners Vanessa Solomon and Amber Wessels. (Press photo by Shelia Tomkins)
By Molly Moser
Three new providers have joined the staff at Guttenberg Municipal Hospital and Clinics in recent months. "We are thrilled to welcome these new providers to Guttenberg Municipal Hospital and Clinics and to the community at large. With the addition of these providers, we will continue to provide the highest quality in healthcare to our community but will be able to offer additional services or additional hours," said GMH Interim CEO Kelly Dybvig.
Family Nurse Practitioner Amber Wessels was born and raised on a dairy farm just outside of Edgewood, and she makes her home there once again – now with her husband and two young children. “I always wanted to come back and practice as well as raise my family in the rural communities where I grew up,” Wessels told The Press. She sees a need for access to healthcare in rural Iowa, which is what drew her back home for her practice.
The family nurse practitioner earned her B.S.N. and M.S.N. from Allen College in Waterloo. She started her service at Guttenberg Municipal Hospital in December. “I love the community and family feel of where I am working,” she told The Press, noting a sense of staff and provider ownership in the clinic and the care patients are given.
Wessels is enjoying raising her two children, coaching their soccer team and supporting them at their many events. “I love to be outside and working on some landscaping and gardening – if this weather ever decides to turn to spring,” she said. She also enjoys crafting and gathering with friends for games and cards.
In her new role at GMH, Wessels says she looks forward to “continuing to provide great care and access to those living in rural Iowa. I love meeting all the new people and it’s funny that there is usually a tie to those you know and your own family… and thus it is more personable care than [patients] may get elsewhere.”
General surgeon Tamara Holzer, D.O., joined Guttenberg Municipal Hospital in February. “I have been working as a consultant at Guttenberg for the last five years and enjoyed the people and atmosphere so much, when I could I switched locations,” she told The Press.
Dr. Holzer is originally from the Cedar Rapids area and has lived in Prairie du Chien, Wis., for the past six years. She attended Luther College, then went on to Des Moines University for medical school. She did her residency at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
The surgeon says she’s enjoying “working with a wonderful group of people doing what I love to do: help people feel better through surgery.” When she’s not at work, Dr. Holzer spends time traveling with her family, reading novels and gardening.
“Things have been great,” she said. “I am busy and loving the move.”
Family Nurse Practitioner Vanessa Solomon comes to Guttenberg from Orlando, Fla. She and her husband, Eric, returned to his roots in Guttenberg to be closer to family and friends. “Everyone here in Guttenberg has been so welcoming and friendly. They are making my transition from Florida to Iowa an easy and great one,” said Solomon.
Solomon will join the new urgent care/walk-in clinic starting soon at Cornerstone Family Practice. She graduated from nursing school in 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida, then worked as an emergency room nurse in downtown Orlando for 12 years. For seven of those 12 years, she specialized in pediatric emergency medicine. She returned to school to obtain a Master’s of Science degree at South University, graduating in 2017 as an ARNP specializing in family medicine.
The nurse practitioner started at GMH on April 10. “I have worked separately with both the Adult medicine population and the pediatric medicine population and I am excited now to work with these populations together and provide healthcare for the family unit as a whole. I’m looking forward to working and living in the same community that I am treating my patients in,” she told The Press.
Solomon and her husband spend their free time outdoors, taking their dog, Bailey, on hikes and walks. This year, using the National Park Pass, the Solomons completed Utah’s Mighty 5 Challenge, visiting all the national parks there in one week. Solomon also enjoys boating, camping and fishing.
Though she may be in the minority on this point, Solomon admitted, “I am loving this cold and snowy weather we’ve had since coming to town. I can say this because I’ve never had to live in snow before and it is new and exciting for me! I really wanted to live somewhere that provided me with all four seasons and not just hot and hot again. I am really looking forward to the fall season in Iowa because it is my favorite time of year.”
