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As a nurse practitioner caring for the homeless in Hyannis on Cape Cod, Judith Best-Lavigniac has often found herself delivering care in some extraordinary places. She has tracked down patients in abandoned warehouses, searched the streets for clients who missed appointments, and driven a van at night to ensure that those with no homes are protected from the cold. She shows such a passion for her work, so much love and determination that, as one colleague in Hyannis stated, her care is "legendary."
Another colleague says, Judy "is a gifted clinician; her patients love her, and I don't use that verb loosely. I have never seen her lose her patience, her equanimity, or her deep caring for each of the desperate people who walk through our doors."
Originally trained at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Judy began her
career as a nurse on Cape Cod. She became interested in helping the
underserved, and in 1994 began working at the O'Neill Health Center
in Hyannis. Her compassion and energies are seemingly endless in her
mission to bring healing to those who have been left behind. She vacations
abroad, volunteering her services at health clinics in Belize, Honduras,
El Salvador, Africa and India.
Almost single-handedly, she has expanded the O'Neill Health Center. In the past five years, monthly clinical encounters have tripled, and the clinic has recently become a certified community health center. As Herbert Mathewson, MD, the Medical Director of Cape Cod Hospital attests: "The fact that this program has developed successfully from an intermittent, weekly nursing service operated out of a closet in a homeless shelter to a daily, multi-service medical/health clinic in a building connected to that same shelter is due in large part to Judy's dedication, vision, and compassion."
Despite the rapid growth of her practice and the O'Neill Health Center, Judy has never forgotten the simple acts of healing that occur with each concerned question or caring visit. For those she treats, who often live with a history of physical, sexual, and substance abuse, that abuse is the norm. It is her reassuring touch that is exceptional as well as her determination to see all her patients succeed, free of addiction and safe.
"Judy has always been there for me," a patient explains. "I don't
care what time of day or what day of the week, I can always call her
and she will go out of her way to help me. If anyone deserves to be
recognized for her work with people, it is Judy."
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