Most important takeaways…
- Columbia's NP group hired 24 NPs since 2016, 14 Columbia Nursing graduates.
- PCMH certification since 2019 and HRSA-funded LGBTQ care anchor its model.
- A 2025 JAMA study found NPs in 66% of most-disadvantaged practices.
A nurse practitioner-led primary care office has been seeing patients at 516 West 168th Street in Washington Heights since Sept. 14, 2016. This September, the ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group marked 10 years there, a milestone covered by Harlem World Magazine.
The site does two jobs at once: it delivers community primary care and trains nurses, from RN to NP, who go on to staff it. Twenty-four nurse practitioners have been hired since 2016, 14 of them Columbia Nursing graduates.
That kind of longevity is uncommon. Most NP-led practices collide with nurse practitioner scope of practice by state and thin payer margins well before year ten.
What Is NP-Led Community Care? A Plain-Language Definition for FNP Students
More nurse practitioners are moving from staff roles into practice leadership, and the term "NP-led" is getting used loosely as a result. NP-led community care describes practices where nurse practitioners serve as primary care providers and also help run the operation, serving a defined neighborhood or population.
How It Differs From Other Models
In a physician-led practice, a physician owns or directs care and NPs work within that structure. Team-based models share responsibility among several professions, often with a physician at the top of the hierarchy. An NP employed in someone else's clinic may deliver excellent care but has little say in staffing, hours, or priorities. In an NP-led primary care team, clinical and leadership decisions sit with NPs.
Columbia's group in Washington Heights, which marks 10 years in September 2026, is a clear example of this model in a single neighborhood.
Why the Medical Home Matters
A patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a primary care approach built on coordinated, team-based care, with one clinical home managing a patient's needs over time. Practices earn certification by meeting quality standards, and payers often tie incentives to that recognition. Columbia's group first earned PCMH certification in 2019 and renews it every year.
For NPs, that matters because it shows the practice can meet the same quality benchmarks payers use to judge any primary care site.
Where the FNP Path Fits
Family nurse practitioners are the natural fit for community nurse practitioner roles in primary care. An MSN-FNP prepares you to treat patients across the lifespan, which is exactly what a neighborhood practice demands.
Inside Columbia's NP Group: From Midtown Roots to Washington Heights
The ColumbiaDoctors Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Group is a primary care office at 516 West 168th Street in Washington Heights. Nurse practitioners, not physicians, are the clinicians patients see there. It opened on Sept. 14, 2016. Harlem World Magazine's coverage of its 10-year anniversary describes it as the outgrowth of a much older experiment in NP-led care.
A Faculty Practice Lineage
The practice traces its roots to Columbia Advanced Practice Nurse Associates (CAPNA), a Columbia Nursing faculty practice founded in Midtown Manhattan in 1997. CAPNA was one of the country's early NP-led faculty practices. That model, in which faculty keep their clinical skills current by seeing patients, moved uptown with the new practice.
In 2024, Columbia launched the Division of Nursing & Advanced Clinical Practice, a collaboration among Columbia Nursing, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and ColumbiaDoctors. According to Columbia Nursing, the division brings together nurses and advanced practice providers across the clinical enterprise. It also sets evidence-based, standardized compensation guidelines1 and connects new NP students and graduates to job openings through separate APRN and RN channels.
Who the Practice Serves
Columbia's own materials list adults, elders, women and LGBTQIA patients as the populations served. Services include:
- Annual physicals and preventive screenings
- Chronic disease management
- Travel vaccines and pre-operative exams
- Prescribing and acute illness visits
Columbia Nursing also lists sub-specialties in integrated mental health, palliative care within primary care and LGBTQ care. Patients can use a portal for test results and scheduling, and they can book NP telehealth video follow-up visits.
Milestones Worth Noting
- Equity first: The group became the first site in upper Manhattan to offer a full spectrum of services for sexual and gender minority patients.
- Pandemic pivot: In the early months of 2020, it ran as a cough and fever clinic and took part in two COVID-related clinical studies.
The Group by the Numbers: A Decade of NP-Led Care
Ten years in, the clearest signal from this practice is how it staffs itself. Of the 24 nurse practitioners hired since 2016, 14 graduated from Columbia Nursing, so more than half came through the school's own training pipeline.
Full, Reduced, and Restricted Practice: How New York Compares
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) sorts every state into one of three practice environments based on how much physician oversight state law requires before an NP can care for patients. As of AANP's September 2026 classification, New York sits in the full practice category, alongside a large group of states that let NPs practice to the full extent of their education and training. Scope-of-practice laws change through legislation and regulation, so check AANP's current state practice environment map before you make licensure, relocation, or practice-launch decisions.
| Practice Environment | What It Means for NPs | Example States | Where New York Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full practice | State law does not require physician supervision, delegation, team management, or a career-long regulated collaborative agreement for NPs to provide patient care. NPs may practice to the full extent of their education and training. | Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming | New York is classified here. |
| Reduced practice | State law reduces the ability of NPs to engage in at least one element of NP practice. It requires a career-long regulated collaborative agreement with another health provider for patient care or limits the setting of one or more practice elements. | Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin | New York is not classified here. |
| Restricted practice | State law restricts the ability of NPs to engage in at least one element of NP practice. It requires career-long supervision, delegation, or team management by another health provider for patient care. | California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia | New York is not classified here. |
Related Articles
A 2025 JAMA Network Open study of 79,743 U.S. primary care practices found NPs worked in 66.0% of practices in the most disadvantaged communities (by Area Deprivation Index) versus 33.4% in the least disadvantaged. It's a cross-sectional association, so it shows where NPs work, not why.
What Nurse Practitioners Earn: A National Snapshot
Using approximate 2025 national figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, nurse practitioners earn a median of about $132,300, roughly $34,750 more than registered nurses and about $52,000 more than postsecondary nursing instructors, which matters if you are weighing a clinical NP role against a faculty path like the ones Columbia's NP group blends together. BLS reports all nurse practitioners as a single occupation, so these figures do not separate primary care NPs from those in acute care, psychiatric mental health, or other specialties. Treat the numbers as a national baseline only: actual pay shifts with your region, practice setting, specialty, and experience, so check local data before planning a career move.
| Occupation | U.S. Employment | Mean Annual Wage | 25th Percentile | Median Annual Wage | 75th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Practitioners | 323,040 | $137,300 | $117,990 | $132,300 | $156,700 |
| Registered Nurses | 3,379,720 | $101,420 | $80,330 | $97,550 | $112,350 |
| Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary | 77,960 | $86,410 | $63,510 | $80,250 | $101,090 |
