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When Ellenboro native Clayton Moore was a young child, he told people he wanted to be a brain surgeon when he grew up. With high expectations and dreams, Moore didn't become a brain surgeon, but recently opened a medical office in Forest City, fulfilling that lifelong dream to help others through medicine.
Moore completed his Family Nurse Practitioner program at Bradley University after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Gardner-Webb and his Master of Science in Nursing from Western Governors University with a concentration in Nursing Leadership and Management.
"Knowing I still had more that I wanted to do with my career, I landed at Bradley University, where I completed my Family Nurse Practitioner program," Moore said.
He is owner and Family Nurse Practitioner at Magnolia Health Primary Care, located off Trade Street in Forest City.
Moore was born and raised in Rutherford County and has called it home his entire life, except for a few semesters of college at East Carolina University.
He transferred to Gardner-Webb University from East Carolina, stating he missed home. He later graduated from Gardner-Webb University with an Associate in Science in Nursing and later received his BS in Nursing.
"I've always had a passion for learning, which led me to further my education. I later graduated with my Master of Science in Nursing from Western Governors University with a concentration in Nursing Leadership and Management.
His passion for learning led him to continue to study medicine, subsequently opening the medical office.
Moore said in high school he took several health sciences classes that introduced him to the nursing field. He had planned on pursuing medical school up to that point, but the more he learned about nursing, he knew that was his calling.
"I have always had a passion for helping others, and nursing was another way for me to do so. I felt that nursing would give me a better opportunity to really establish connections with patients, which is one of the things that I love most about my job as a nurse practitioner," Moore continued.
"I enjoy getting to know my patients and listening to stories about their lives, their personal experiences, and learning about their families. I love that when patients come to me I can ask things like, 'how is your mom doing?', because I've gotten to know them on a personal level."
In his profession he has the opportunity to help his patients with needs that may otherwise go unmet.
"Although my first responsibility to my patients is as their healthcare professional, I also have a responsibility to them to address other needs that may go unnoticed, such as housing, access to food and transportation."
Moore said it's very rewarding to be able to address a patient's needs they really never expected would be met.
Before opening his Forest City office, he worked full-time at a primary care practice in Buncombe County. He said as he made the hour commute to work every day, he said he "almost had a sense of guilt that I was leaving my community to go work in another, knowing the healthcare disparities here at home."
Because he wanted to serve the people of his community, he decided to open his own practice.
"I wanted to serve my community by providing healthcare that is not driven by statistics, or provider performance metrics based on patient volume," Moore began. "I wanted to design a practice that would allow me the time to truly provide personalized care to members of my community without the typical time constraints placed on providers in most medical offices."
Personalized care is at the heart of Magnolia Health Primary Care, he said.
"It is where we strive to understand and meet the unique needs of each patient," Moore said. He and staff strive to understand and meet the unique needs of each patient.
"To be sustainable with this personalized and patient-focused practice, efficiency and being as lean as possible is crucial," he said.
Magnolia Primary Health has a part-time clerical staff so when patients come into the office, it could be a different experience for them as the office is paperless and utilizes an online check-in platform completed from a smartphone.
However, if patients do not have a smartphone, staff will assist patients with checking in on a tablet provided at the office.
Staff includes Justin Moore, a paramedic, who wears many hats and assists with patient care and Registered Nurse Brooke Stewart, both Rutherford County natives.
When not working, Moore says he enjoys being outdoors and traveling and although he always enjoys reading, there isn't much time for leisure reading these days.
"One of my favorite books of all time is The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah," Moore said.
New patients are being accepted and the practice is in the network with most commercial insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid plans.
