Mercer Island native found love, career in Lind

LIND – A Mercer Island native working as a nurse practitioner at Hometown Family Medicine never imagined life in a rural community.

Lauren Phillips, 29, now of Lind, recently accepted the job at the health care center, 210 W. Main Ave., after graduating with a doctorate in 2022 in nursing from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

Born and raised on Mercer Island, Phillips didn't anticipate living and working in rural Adams County.

"It was a drastic change from living in a Seattle suburb to a farm just outside of Lind," she said. "I went from a very metropolitan area to the outskirts of a rur...