2007 Healthcare Hero
Sharon Ellis
Nurse / Villages

Pulaski Health Center's school-based health program provides access to care for students in rural northern Oswego County. Nurse practitioner Sharon Ellis provides health services to students in the Sandy Creek Central School system. The program serves 905 out of the district’s 1,020 students.

"The clinic is open on site whenever school is in session and during the summer for limited hours," says Sandy Creek Town Clerk Tammy Miller. "This is a huge benefit for parents. Mrs. Ellis provides exceptional care for the children."

Ellis, says Miller, will not only notify parents, but call in prescriptions before their children are sent home for the day.

"Being the provider at the health center, I am able to deliver health care to the students enrolled that may not under other circumstances have health care available to them," she said.
She’s worked a variety of positions in the medical field, from ICUs, to cardiac care units to general medical floors. She joined Pulaski Health in 1986 as a registered nurse. Ellis, who had obtained her nursing license in 1973, went back to school in 1997 to become a nurse practitioner. She rejoined Pulaski Health in 1998.

Ellis volunteers with the Hiawatha Seaway Boy Scout Council as the chair of the Cub Scout Camp Promotions Committee. She's also the unit commissioner for two Cub Scout packs and a Boy Scout troop. In the past, Ellis has worked with students from University Hospital’s nurse practitioner program. (CM)