Our Family caring for your Family!

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
 

Dr. John Swords

Dr. Swords cares for patients in the Waukon Clinic.  He has always liked the Midwest and chose to join this rural practice in November of 2025, leaving his previous  practice in South Carolina.  Before becoming a physician, he devoted his career to the United States Army.  After watching his parents age and become sick, he chose to further his career as a health care provider.

Dr. Swords is available to see patients of all ages, but has a particular love for taking care of older adults.  He also has special training in Substance Use Disorder (SUD).

Schools and Degrees:
Penn State University-Bachelors Degree Accounting 
Millersville University-Bachelors Degree in Biology University of Wisconsin in Madison-Master Degree in Microbiology
Kansas City University-Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine 
 

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

Hannah Kelly

Hannah has nearly a decade of nursing experience in a variety of areas.   She chose to become a family nurse practitioner to continue to care for a variety of demographics of patients in a different setting. She has always loved the variety and unpredictability of nursing which family practice health care is able to provide.  She also enjoys building the long-term relationships with her patients that had not been available in her previous roles.

Hannah grew up on a family farm south of Waukon. She cares for patients in both the Waukon and Postville Clinics and is particularly interested in women’s health and pediatrics.

Schools and Degrees:
Luther College-Bachelors Degree in Nursing
Briar Cliff University-Masters Degree in Nursing