Carolyn Clark, FNP-BC

Carolyn joined SWFHS in September 2006, on a part time basis, and went full time in January, 2007. She was a patient first – in fact, it was during a visit for a painful thumb in June of 2006 that Carolyn and Dr. Helgemo first discussed possible employment.

Carolyn’s background is diverse. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing in 1980, from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, and has worked in many different areas of nursing. After twenty years as a nurse, she was anxious to expand her skills and share her expertise. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Nursing in January 2001, from the University of Missouri – St. Louis, and since then has worked in emergency rooms in Missouri and Florida, and immediately prior to starting with SWFHS, at an urgent care and occupational medicine clinic in Sarasota, FL

The opportunity to work in a specialty field was intriguing to Carolyn, but she was initially skeptical. It didn’t take much time, however, for her to figure out that the hand specialty was amazingly interesting and diverse. She now feels challenged by its depth, and is committed to providing quality care and understanding to people with all kinds of hand, wrist, and elbow problems. Work, play, and most activities of daily living require functional hands. It is Carolyn’s goal to return her patients to optimal function.

Carolyn is a board certified family nurse practitioner, who is also a certified provider of basic and advanced cardiac life support, as well as pediatric advanced trauma support and pediatric advanced life support. She resides in northeastern Charlotte County, and enjoys spending time with her husband, her three cats, and her dog. She enjoys baking and cooking, spending time on the water in her kayak or canoe, traveling, gardening, and being the pit crew (or pit tootsie) for her husband, who dabbles in motorcycle racing. They have resided in Charlotte County for 6 years, and love living in Florida.

 

Interest in treating hands: 
I have a passion and desire to help those with significant life changing injuries to achieve functional outcomes to return to a high quality of life. 

Hobbies:            
Spending time with my wife and two children
Woodworking and Carpentry
Playing sports

Kassondra Macy, MS/OTR/L

QUOTE:  “Hands often define how we explore our world, how we provide for ourselves or our families and how we enjoy life through recreational activities.  Helping people recover from hand injuries and regain their prior level of function makes my work fulfilling.”

When I joined the practice:  I was offered to join the practice in Oct/Nov of 2006 when I transferred from an orthopedic position where I was treating primarily upper extremity injuries with a strong focus on the shoulder.  I saw the opportunity as a challenge to my career and have grown very fond of the practice of treating hand injuries.

Interest in treating hands:  During my college career I never had a strong interest in treating the hand as my primary focus was pediatrics.  However, after practicing in pediatrics for three years I began to understand the complexity of hand functioning and how it related to the children I worked with who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy as well as other diagnoses.  Most children had difficulty with simple ADL’s such as dressing or tying their shoes as well as handwriting tasks.  I realized the function of the hand was more than influential in all areas of practice and am grateful to have the opportunity of learning and gaining knowledge working directly with a hand specialist.

Lynn, Business Development Manager, LPN

Lynn came to Southwest Florida Hand Specialists in January 2006 after being an orthopedic surgical nurse at Fawcett Memorial Hospital for four years.

Lynn enjoys boating, snorkeling, and all water sports.

Lynn moved to Port Charlotte by way of New Jersey. She is a native of Wisconsin.

Marianne
Billing Department

She has been with Southwest Florida Hand Specialists for almost four years.

She stays current on billing issues through attending seminars, reading billing periodicals, and taking online classes.

Her spare time is spent fishing with her husband, reading, crocheting, and enjoying her children and grandchildren.

Stacey

Workers Compensation

Stacey handles all aspects of the workers compensation patients, along with various other responsibilities.  She has been with Southwest Florida Hand Specialists for 2 years.

Stacey has worked in the medical field for over 15 years in various positions.

Outside of work Stacey enjoys spending time with her family