Family nurse practitioner Cherie Craft joins Oaklawn’s express-care team

MARSHALL – A career in medicine wasn’t exactly on Cherie Craft’s mind as she grew up in her hometown of Lansing.

“When I was a teenager, I wanted to go into business and work for a makeup company,” she said. “I even started as a business major in college.”

However, fate, innate talents and her strong desire to help others set the young woman toward a much different destination, and today she is a family nurse practitioner and a member of Oaklawn’s express-care team.

Craft will be based primarily at Oaklawn Express Care – Beckley Road, which is to open June 1 in Suite B at 5352 Beckley Road, Battle Creek. The office may be contacted at (269) 558-0714. Craft also will see patients at Oaklawn Express Care – Albion and Oaklawn After Hours Express in Marshall. 

Early on, Craft’s own family health issues generate a strong consciousness about health concerns.

“I come from a family that is plagued with sickle-cell anemia and I didn’t realize that it wasn’t the norm for family members to be in the hospital,” she said. “Very often, as I got older, I also saw that my family members weren’t heard when they complained of the illness and pain.”

That led to a personal quest to change the situation whenever or wherever possible, she said.

“I wanted to use my voice to raise questions on behalf of people who weren’t being heard about their pain,” she said. “I saw that more resources were needed, along with people who understood the disease better. People want to feel good and be listened to.”

Actually, given her family’s professional choices, the prospect of becoming a nurse had always been a possibility. Her maternal grandmother and an aunt on her mother’s side had chosen nursing as their careers.

As a result, when Cherie decided to shift her own career path, she received encouragement from her family. Her academic institution followed suit, transferring her course credits so she could focus on medicine.

“I found out I could take anatomy and learn about the body,” she said. “I decided that I would take just one pre-nursing class and talk to a counselor, and after I passed the classes in medical terminology and anatomy, I knew that I should major in nursing.”

Craft earned an associate of applied science degree in nursing from Lansing Community College, graduating magna cum laude. She went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Michigan. Since 2007, she has received hands-on experience through her work at medical organizations in Lansing, Novi, Eaton Rapids, Ionia and Battle Creek.

Craft earned a master of science degree in nursing from Spring Arbor University with a focus on the family nurse practitioner specialty.

Craft is certified in basic life support as well as advanced cardiac life support. She is additionally certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Craft takes the concept of good health so personally that she spends much of her own time ensuring a healthy future.

“My biggest hobby is working out,” she said. “I’ve been doing CrossFit more than seven years to lose weight, improve my cholesterol and lower my blood pressure. I’ve also been doing Olympic-style weightlifting. These have improved my life.”

The Lansing resident has spent several years as a nurse in the Calhoun County area and has become familiar with Oaklawn and the communities it serves.

“It’s a good community-based hospital,” she said. “Everyone is close-knit. Your voice will be heard, and I like that. Your voice gets lost in a bigger corporation. I’m looking to expand my skills and learn new things to expand my abilities as a nurse, and I believe that will help me to do my job well at Oaklawn.”