Home > New ARNP Rounds Out ACV Medical Team

New ARNP Rounds Out ACV Medical Team

One of the vital services provided at Copeland Medical Center at Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park is Copeland Clinic. There, outstanding medical care is offered to area residents five days a week. Board certified family doctor/geriatrician Dr. Maria Gonzalez leads the medical team, along with two nurse practitioners: Beth Fulford, and newest team member, Natalie Gordon.

Natalie was born on Long Island, NY, but wasn’t very old before her family moved to the island of Jamaica. The Williamses lived on the Caribbean Sea for three years, and then moved back to the US — to Florida, the state where Natalie has lived ever since, spending her childhood in Miami then moving to West Palm Beach during her high school years.

With the goal of becoming a pharmacist, Natalie moved to Tallahassee and attended Florida A&M University (FAMU). During that year, however, she realized pharmacy didn’t involve a lot of interaction with others. She decided to change her major to nursing, following in an aunt’s footsteps. She also felt very homesick, so she transferred back south to Palm Beach State College to finish her prerequisites and then to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to finish her undergraduate nursing degree.

In 2011, Natalie went on her first mission trip — to Peru. Working with the medical team, she observed how the only doctor — an obstetrician/gynecologist — was having to treat patients for many more problems than they as an OB/GYN felt fully qualified to handle. Natalie realized that if she had more medical training, she would be much better equipped to help the doctor perform his duties. This inspired her to go back to school to earn a nurse practitioner degree.

Natalie returned to Florida Atlantic, entered the nurse practitioner program, and graduated in May 2015. Her specialty is “adult gerontological,” specializing in older adults. From graduating with her undergraduate degree until earning her NP, she had worked as a pediatric home health nurse and at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach.

Natalie didn’t move to Dowling Park alone; she has brought with her her new husband, Edson Gordon. Edson is from Jamaica. He was a high school teacher there before moving to the States. While on her second mission trip — this one to Nicaragua — a fellow mission trip participant told her of a friend they had in Jamaica — Edson. Natalie and Edson began a correspondence relationship, seeing each other on occasion when a trip could be made. Their love was able to overcome the distance and the two were married in November of 2015.

Natalie and Edson are living in River Woods at Advent Christian Village (ACV) and are thoroughly enjoying the community. The couple had been planning to move to “the country” even before Natalie applied for the position here. They’re fans of exercise and take full advantage of the Copeland Community Center. Natalie also enjoys reading, cooking and traveling. She says they love cruises and she hopes to continue to be able to go on mission trips each year. She also has an interest in learning to sew.

We’re so glad the Gordons have decided to join the big ACV family. Not just for the excellent medical care Natalie is providing at the clinic to those who live in and around Advent Christian Village, but for the Godly, generous, and thankful spirits with which they bless all the lives they touch here in Dowling Park.

If you would like to schedule an appointment to see Natalie at Copeland Clinic, call (386) 658-5300.