T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Nurse practitioner Ryan Gallagher thanks the Belmont County Board of Commissioners for its support of the CARES Program.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Cumberland Trail Fire District announced that nurse practitioner Ryan Gallagher is joining the Community Access, Resources, Education & Solutions program.

According to CTFD Chief Tim Hall, the inclusion of Gallagher will aim to significantly improve access to quality health care and preventive services.

“Before I introduce our newest addition, I just want to share my appreciation to the three commissioners for their unwavering support to not only the CARES program but being invested in the health and well-being of all Belmont County residents,” Hall said.

The CARES program is operated by Cumberland Trail Fire District in collaboration with the Belmont County commissioners, the Belmont Harrison and Monroe Counties Mental Health & Recovery Board, Senior Services of Belmont County, Belmont County Department of Job & Family Services and the Belmont County Health Department.

“The Nurse Practitioner role will address critical gaps in rural healthcare by providing enhanced access to care by offering accessible healthcare and preventive services to improve patient outcomes, particularly for those in underserved Appalachia areas,” Cumberland Trail Fire District’s press release on the matter states. “The CARES Program Nurse Practitioner will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap for patients without primary care providers and providing essential healthcare resources and support to improve community health.”

Gallagher has been a firefighter/paramedic for 20 years but recently went back to school to receive a master of science in nursing in 2023 to become a certified nurse practitioner.

“We realized there may be a gap in primary care, so we want to be able to go into the home and offer some primary care services,” Gallagher said. “Our main goal is to promote health and wellness to keep the residents safe and healthy.”

He thanked the commissioners, Mental Health and Recovery Board, DJFS, health department, and OHHS for their continued support and collaboration to ensure the new initiative was able to proceed as planned.

“Without their hard work, this would not be possible, so I want to thank everybody for that,” he said. “We want to come in and build a strong relationship with all entities.”

Hall added that he believes the addition of Gallagher is the perfect fit for the community.

“We felt this fits perfectly with his background and being involved in fire and EMS and knowing the problems that first responders face every day in the county because of him having those grassroots of where he came from,” Hall said.