AVA, Mo. (July 8, 2025) – Missouri Ozarks Community Health is pleased to welcome Michelle Marcak, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, to our behavioral health team at Ava. Marcak is the first psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner to join the team at Missouri Ozarks. “We are thrilled to add a full-time psychiatric nurse practitioner to Missouri Ozarks,” said Jennifer Heinlein, chief operations officer at Missouri Ozarks. “Expanding behavioral health services has been a longtime goal for us and Michelle is helping to fill the care gaps that we see daily with our patients.”
Marcak earned her bachelor’s degree from Arkansas State University before going on to earn her master’s degree from Cox College of Nursing in Springfield. Marcak previously worked for a hospital in both a geriatric psychiatry unit and providing outpatient behavioral health. In her position at Missouri Ozarks, Marcak will primarily work within the new substance use treatment program starting in Ava on August 1. “Michelle’s skills and qualifications will greatly complement our team in the SUD program,” said Randall Gann, CEO of Missouri Ozarks. “We expect the care she is able to provide alongside our licensed professional counselor, and under the direction of Dr. Matthew Brown, will be a great benefit to the community of Ava.”
Marcak will also provide medication management to behavioral health patients who are referred to her by other providers at Missouri Ozarks. Appointments with Marcak may look a little different than appointments with other behavioral health providers. “Typically, the first appointment will be the longest, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, because we will be getting to know each other,” said Marcak. “After that, appointments are about 20 minutes as we work to adjust medications as needed.”
Missouri Ozarks Community Health is a federally qualified health center established in 1996. Missouri Ozarks serves the counties of Douglas, Wright, Texas and zark. Various services are offered at clinics, including primary medical care, dental care, behavioral health care, prenatal care and pediatric care.
For more information about Missouri Ozarks Community Health or its behavioral health services, please contact Lacy Monteleone at lmonteleone@mo-ozarks.org or call (417) 683-5739, ext. 1422.
