Richland Center, WI – The Richland Hospital and Clinics (TRHC) is pleased to welcome back Martine Banda-Wolk, APNP, to their primary care team. Martine provided care at the Richland Medical Center from 1986 – 2019 and will be returning to TRHC to join the team at the Spring Green Medical Center, working alongside Dr. Cristine Cornelius and Tanya Neumaier, APNP.

Martine’s approach to care focuses on building relationships with her patients. “Communication is key,” she says. In addition to her work as a primary care provider, she has also been a nursing instructor at Edgewood College in Madison where her teaching focused on interpersonal communication. Listening to patients, she says, is a critical element of care: “Patients need to feel safe and heard before they trust a provider with their care journey.” Martine says she is also a firm believer that people must help themselves, and the health care provider’s role is to offer support and guidance: “My job is to listen and get to know them, so I can promote their health goals.”

Martine knew she wanted to become a nurse when she was just twelve years old. “Around that time my grandmother gave me a watch with a secondhand,” she says with a smile, “so I could check everyone’s pulse.” She still has the watch, and her desire to care for others is still strong. With nearly 40 years of patient care behind her, she says the work stays fresh and fulfilling because of the patients she gets to know and care for: “When someone makes strides in their health, we celebrate that together.”

Patients familiar with her are likely to remember her warmth and easy manner. Though she points out that she can be tough when she needs to be: “I have a bluntness about me, too,” she says with a laugh. That bluntness is always used in her patient’s best interest. “My patients and I talk about all the things that will promote their health, but we come back to one central question: What can you do? What small steps can you take to help you reach your bigger goals?”

For Martine, coming back to The Richland Hospital and Clinics feels like “coming home.” She also welcomes the opportunity to connect with her community in Spring Green, the town she has lived in for many years. “I look forward to getting to know my neighbors through this work,” she said.

The Spring Green Medical Center offers care for patients from birth through old age, providing in-network coverage for Quartz, Anthem BCBS, and Dean Health Plan. Patients interested in scheduling an appointment with Martine or Spring Green Medical Center’s other providers are encouraged to call 608-588-7413.

The Richland Hospital and Clinics is a nationally awarded health care facility dedicated to caring, educating, and healing. Providing compassionate care for 100 years to residents of the greater Richland County area, TRHC operates an independent, integrated group medical practice in three locations, including rural health clinics in Spring Green and Muscoda and a critical access hospital at its primary location in Richland Center, WI.