Andrew Honored with APC Award of Excellence

MIDDLEBURGH — Caroline Andrew, FNP, Family Nurse Practitioner at Bassett Healthcare Network’s Middleburgh School-Based Health Center, has been recognized by her peers with the 2025 Advanced Practice Clinician (APC) Award of Excellence. Bassett established its Advanced Practice Clinician Award of Excellence to recognize an outstanding practitioner who demonstrates clinical acumen, a commitment to teaching and fostering knowledge, and one who inspires others through leadership, community involvement, and advocacy.

Bassett’s APC Award of Excellence is made possible by an endowment established by retired Bassett physician Dr. Walter Franck, who served for more than 40 years at Bassett Medical Center as a rheumatologist, and eventually Chief of Medicine, in addition to his key role establishing the Columbia-Bassett Program and serving as associate dean of the medical school until his retirement in 2015.

“I’m humbled by this recognition, especially since I was nominated alongside so many other APCs who are simply outstanding,” said Andrew. “Thank you to everyone who voted and to my colleagues in School-Based Health who are true champions for our team, our patients, and their families.”

Caroline’s medical journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of Rochester. From there, she studied at the University of Virginia, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Pediatric Nursing and completed studies to be certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). After a few years practicing in North Carolina, Caroline met her husband and the couple moved to Colorado, where Caroline began working for Kaiser Permanente in Family Medicine. She worked for the organization for 27 years. During that time, she became a mom to three now-grown-up sons.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, a lot of healthcare providers reflected on what they truly wanted out of their medical careers, myself included. At the end of the pandemic, I was presented with the opportunity to take an early retirement from Kaiser and I took it,” explains Andrew.

After leaving Kaiser, Caroline moved back to the Schoharie area where her family operates a farm. She is originally from Guilderland.

“While I was dreaming about what I might want to do next in my career, I decided I wanted to become a peony farmer. I asked my family if that was something the farm could support and they were 100% on board. I’m now at the point where I’ve planted around 500 peony plants. It takes three to four years for them to mature to the point where they’re ready to be harvested for commercial sales,” said Caroline. “They are in their growing phase and I think I am also in my growing phase at Bassett.”

Caroline began her current role at Bassett’s Middleburgh School-Based Health Center in September of 2023. Just like her peonies, she feels this role is allowing her to get back to her roots.

“I’ve always wanted to work in a school setting. I remember all the way back in fourth grade, I wanted to spend all of my time in the nurse’s office, so I would pretend to be sick. I thought it was just the most amazing place,” said Caroline. “Ultimately, my mom and the nurse realized what was happening and they created a little job for me after school where I could go to the nurse’s office and do some filing. That got me back in the classroom while nurturing my passion for healthcare.”

One of Caroline’s greatest accomplishments in her role at the Middleburgh School-Based Health Center was the creation of a student food pantry on site, where any Middleburgh student in need can access nutritious food, without judgment from their peers.

“The pantry has been such a success. We are working to expand and potentially open pantries at other school districts where Bassett has a School-Based Health Center,” said Caroline. “We screen every student we see at our clinic for food insecurity. No one is singled out or made to feel uncomfortable. I’m happy to share that now all of Bassett’s 21 School-Based Health Centers are doing these same screenings to make sure their students also have their nutritional needs met.”

Bassett Healthcare Network’s School-Based Health Centers provide medical, dental, and mental healthcare at no out-of-pocket cost to families. They are located within school buildings, so parents and students do not need to travel and miss classes or work for an extended period of time for the student to receive care. Approximately 60% of pediatric patients cared for by Bassett Healthcare Network rely on Medicaid.

“School-Based Health has been a perfect match for where my morals are,” reflects Andrew. “Our entire team puts the students’ needs first.”