Katie Konrad, a nurse practitioner with a long history on the island, has joined the staff of the Vashon Women’s Health Center.

Konrad, an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner,  (ARNP) who has a background in women’s health, worked for 17 years at the clinic that is now Fulton Family Medicine before taking a leave from the clinic last summer.

Konrad enjoyed her position at Fulton, she said, but in recent years paperwork and insurance requirements have mounted, and she was still required to be on call regularly.

“I was kind of burnt out and needed a break and needed a change of venue,” she said.

During the summer, Konrad worked some at the Vashon Women’s Health Center, filling in for owner Kimberly Scheer, ARNP. She decided to begin practicing there on a permanent basis at the beginning of November, but starting at just one day a week.

Konrad said she will miss her patients at Fulton Family Medicine, but expects some female patients will follow her to the women’s health center. She she is also looking forward to working with new women and teens at the clinic, which she called “homey and calm.”

“I think I’m still wanting to slow down and replenish, and that’s a place I can do it,” she said. “I’m going to start off one day a week and take it from there.”