Nurse practitioner starts medical practice at what he calls the belated age of 53

Nurse practitioner Julius Quinn has long been interested in having his own practice, but with a family to support, he always was hesitant to leave a steady paycheck elsewhere.

Still, “It was in the back of my mind, in a corner of my brain somewhere” that he still might like to do it.

The pandemic helped finally prompt him to make a change.

Quinn and his wife, Amy, a physician assistant, have opened QuinnEssential Healthcare at 7570 W. 21st St., near Ridge Road, to focus on behavioral health, addiction and issues with ADHD. They’ll do a bit of primary care as well.

The two had been working in Hutchinson when Amy Quinn was laid off due to the pandemic. Then she took a job in Arkansas City, but the commute was too much.

“So we had to do some drastic things,” Julius Quinn said.

He heard of a Wichita physician looking to sublease some space, and the Quinns decided the time was right to start their own clinic.

“God opened the doors at the right time, and everything fell into place,” Julius Quinn said.

He’s both a family and psychiatric nurse practitioner and is primarily focused on behavioral health. Quinn said there are a lot of therapists dealing with behavioral health on the west side, but there may be a lack of help managing medication.

“I’ve been told that’s where the need is at here on the west side.”

The practice will treat children and adolescents who have ADHD — the clinic has the QbTest for ADHD — and those struggling with the pandemic. He said those numbers are increasing.

Quinn said he wants potential patients or their caregivers to know QuinnEssential takes government insurance.

Now that he finally has his own clinic, it’s not complete euphoria for Quinn.

“I’m 53 years old. To start something new this late in life is very scary.”

He said his wife is a decade younger, but he “should be thinking about retirement.”

“There’s a lot of fear factor going on inside of me.”

There’s something more, though, too. Quinn is elated to make his own schedule instead of adhering to strict time limits with patients.

“I’m not on anybody’s time frame.”

He said that sometimes while working for others “they want you out very quickly.”

“If I have somebody in crisis, I actually have the time to help get them out of crisis,” Quinn said. “That’s the exciting part of it.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 2:46 PM.