Wisconsin Office of Rural Health Recognizes Local Physician Assistant as Wisconsin Rural Health Hero

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022 -- 12:01 PM

The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health has recognized a local physician assistant as a Wisconsin Rural Health Hero.

Michael Conard worked for Memorial Medical Center-Neillsville for seven years before it became Marshfield Medical Center-Neillsville. Michael decided to stay on through the transition and has remained at MMC-Neillsville to this day.

He is passionate about rural healthcare and providing patients with access to the best care. Mike is a physician assistant in adult primary care, doing almost all the pre-op clearance evaluations for patients in the Neillsville area.

He has special qualifications in emergency medicine and occupational medicine. Mike sees adult patients for routine healthcare, acute care, and pre-operative exams. In the clinic setting, Mike saw patients being diagnosed with diabetes and wanted to provide them with educational materials upon diagnosis so that they would know how to handle the prognosis.

He is proud to be piloting an in-house diabetes education clinic. Patients diagnosed with diabetes will be able to see our clinic nurse for diabetes education. Patients have said that Mike is approachable and caring.

They say that he takes the time to listen to his patients and to assist them however he can. His patients walk away feeling heard and important: “It is so refreshing to not just be a number.” Mike’s co-workers say that he is reliable, doesn’t complain, and always helps.

He goes above and beyond and is always taking on a large workload. He always rises to the challenge that is rural healthcare. In his limited free time, he develops database applications for nonprofit/civic organizations and is active in the Lions Club and in the American Legion post.

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