Our Family caring for your Family!

Alex Berns

Alex Berns, ARNP, is from the Postville area.  He began his nursing career at Veterans Memorial Hospital, first as a C.N.A., then an RN.  He left the facility to branch out and gain experience in Hospice, Emergency Care, the ICU in Rochester and general inpatient care, while furthering his education.  He has now returned to VMH as a clinic a Nurse Practitioner and clinic provider.

Alex cares for youth and adults of all ages.  He always knew he wanted to return home to care for those in this area and to raise his children in this great community.  He is excited to care for those in all walks of life and getting to care for a variety of individuals in the area.

Schools and Degrees

• NICC - RN
• Clarke University - Doctorate Family Nurse Practitioner

Tara Fink

Tara Fink is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who provides behavioral health care at both the Waukon and Postville Clinics.  She has a passion for mental health care and the great need in these underserved communities in northeast Iowa. Tara also strives to reduce the stigma and indifference associated with behavioral health.

Tara also has a passion for Holistic & Integrative Mental Health Care, Improvement in psychological resilience, improved culture of acceptance, and barrier reductions.

Tara worked in Waterloo at Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center in an Integrated Health Home for six years, while finishing her masters degree.

Schools and Degrees

• NICC - RN 
• Allen College of Nursing -  Masters Degree
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Janet Hunter

Janet Hunter is also a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who cares for patients in our Waukon Clinic.  She has over 20 years of experience in nursing in the Wellness Department at Luther College in Decorah addressing student issues.  Mental health quickly emerged as the most pressing need.  She saw students waiting months, sometimes a year, to see a provider for medication management and too often the delay caused them to step away from school.  

Those experiences motived her to pursue her PMHNP so she could combine her passion for prevention with the ability to provide treatment, helping her patients remove barriers and thrive.
 
Schools and Degrees:
University of Northern Iowa-Bachelors Degree in Health Promotion: Women’s Health 
Masters Degree in Community Health Education 
Northeast Iowa Community College —  Nursing 
Allen College-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
 

Mason Kerian

Mason is a graduate of Waukon High School and attended the University of Iowa for eight years as she worked on earning her nurse practitioner doctorate.  She became a nurse practitioner because she saw how poor health outcomes often results from something as simple as miscommunication, a lack of trust or a missed connection between providers and their patients.

She focuses on helping her patients enjoy their lives, whether that’s infants and children, young families in the busy seasons of life, or older adults who want to stay independent and active, and welcomes all walks of life.  She cares for patients in both the Waukon and Postville Clinics.
 
Schools and Degrees:
University of Iowa-Bachelors Degree in Nursing
University of Iowa-Doctorate in Nursing