Rachel Raven, a family nurse practitioner with St. Lawrence Health System, has been recognized with the Rural Health Champion of the Year Award by North Country Health Compass.

Raven works at the North Country Community Health Center located at Gouverneur Hospital.

Raven was selected for the award based on her community service, according to a press release from St. Lawrence Health System.

She is the founder and organizer of the Health and Hope Mission Clinic, a free health clinic serving the uninsured in Gouverneur and surrounding communities.

The clinic offers wellness visits, check-ups, vaccinations, and other primary health services to those in need.

“Rachel is a north-country native,” said Jennifer Shaver, director of nursing at Gouverneur Hospital.

“In establishing the Health and Hope Mission clinic, it has been her goal to engage patients and families in their own healthcare decisions, solidifying a foundation for positive health-seeking behaviors,” said Shaver. “She is reaching people who might otherwise not seek out health care.”

Raven holds a bachelor of science and master of science in nursing from SUNY Upstate Medical University’s College of Health Professions in Syracuse, where she completed her family nurse practitioner training in May 2011, with a minor in education.

She has served as a family nurse practitioner at the Edwards-Knox School-based clinic and at the Harrisville Family and School-based clinics.

She practiced home-health nursing throughout Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties as a self-employed private Medicaid nurse.

Her career also includes nursing positions at Health Services of Northern New York in Potsdam, Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, Sibley Nursing Center in Watertown, General Healthcare Nursing Agency in Stuart, Fl., Atlantic Healthcare in Vero Beach, Fl, and Heritage Health Center in Utica.

Raven was a staff/charge nurse at the former EJ Noble Hospital in Gouverneur before joining Gouverneur Hospital.

North Country Health Compass is an initiative of the Fort Drum Regional Planning Organization.

For information about the Health and Hope Mission clinic call 287-1406.

To make an appointment with Raven, call the center at 287-4440.