New doctor, nurse practitioners join Mercy Hospital Southeast’s inpatient team

Three new hospitalists are joining Mercy Hospital Southeast’s team at 1701 Lacey St. in Cape Girardeau. Joshua Buell, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, and nurse practitioners Nicholas Ervin and Judy Pfeiffer will provide care for patients at the hospital.

Buell, a native of Jackson, started his health care career working in Cape Girardeau pharmacies. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Southeast Missouri State University and completed medical school at A.T. Still University in Kirksville.

“I’m so grateful to be providing care for patients in the community where I grew up,” Buell said in a Dec. 30, news release. “The community has given so much to me over the years, and I’m excited to finally be able to give back and offer excellent patient experiences. It’s such a pleasure working with my Mercy Southeast team.”

Ervin and Pfeiffer had both worked at Mercy Southeast in the past. Ervin, a Cape Girardeau native, worked as a certified nursing assistant there in 2006. He studied at SEMO and completing his Master of Science in nursing in 2018 at Maryville University in St. Louis.

“I’ve spent much of my time throughout my career providing end-of-life care or managing chronic illnesses. Moving into a role as a hospitalist caring for adults has provided me with the opportunity to actually treat patients and their disease processes, as opposed to simply managing symptoms of potentially terminal conditions,” he said.

Pfeiffer, another SEMO alum, has more than 20 years of nursing experience, including concentrations in neurology and cardiology. She earned a master’s degree in nursing at Saint Louis University and is a credentialed adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner.

“I love connecting with patients and their families by providing quality care — meeting each individual where they are in life, communicating in a way they can understand and helping them understand their disease process,” she said. “There can be a lot of fear and anxiety when someone is sick or injured. It’s my hope that through this connection and open, honest communication, I can relieve some of those anxieties and the fear of the unknown.”

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