Going the distance
Nurse practitioner to the elderly makes house calls a priority
Inspired by her beloved grandmother and the struggle she had getting medical help in rural north Florida, Madetric N. Wood opened her nurse practitioner practice in geriatrics — where she literally goes out of her way to reach patients who couldn’t make it to her office.
She spends mornings seeing patients at her office but every afternoon, Wood makes house calls for patients who are homebound or have difficulty getting to the office. Her dedication compels her to travel as far north as Sebastian to as far south as Jupiter.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Winston Churchill once said “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give”. This philosophy has been adopted by Madetric Wood, a local business owner and advanced registered nurse practitioner on the Treasure Coast.
Each year Madetric, affectionately known as “Naye” by her colleagues and patients, makes substantial donations of gift baskets and new unwrapped toys to several of the local charities and skilled nursing facilities in her community.
“I have always been taught to give to those less fortunate when I was a child,” Madetric says, “and as I became an adult and was able to bless others, I continued to do so.”
Geriatric Solutions, founded by Madetric in 2010, donates dozens of toys and gift baskets to several local charities including Toys for Tots, Salvation Army and several skilled nursing facilities in area such as Atlantic Healthcare, The Brennity of Vero Beach and The Lynmoore Assisted Living Facility. Each year since 2013 she has been able to expand to more facilities and charities and her donations have grown each year.
The 22 Distinguished Alumni were honored during a convention in Tampa last week. Image via FAMU.
Honorees include current and former members of FAMU staff: Elaine Armster, a member of the FAMU Foundation Board of Directors; Torin P. Goodrum, a member of the Broward County FAMU NAA Chapter; Mildred Graham, executive director of Community Relations and staff member of FAMU College of Law; Patrick Gray, the President of FAMU NAA Greater Orlando Chapter; and William L McCray, former FAMU administrator and FAMU Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Honorees also included politicians such as Stanley Campbell, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Willie Miller II, a retired state politician. Two Air Force veterans were also honorees: Dolph Howard III and Terry G. Coney.
Other honorees included Dr. Leonard Badger, dentist; Gerald Brown, informatics analyst; Bettye Jean Muse Bryant, mathematics professor; Torn Goodrum, pharmacy manager; Jana Johnson-Davis, educator and activist; Dr. Anita Petteway-Tyler, clinical professor and investigator; Pierre Rutledge, chair of Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory; Rashan Ali Smith, multimedia personality and anchor; James Summers, Texas college basketball and track coach; Madetric Wood, nurse; Keenan Wooten, educator and athletic director; and Herbet Lee Woodard and his wife Betty Woodard, both educators.