Ruth Seppala, RN, MSN, FNP-C, practices at Sun Life in Oracle.
Ruth Seppala, RN, MSN, FNP-C is the Family Nurse Practitioner at the Oracle Sun Life Family Health Center. She is a native Arizonan, born and raised in Tucson and a graduate of Canyon del Oro High School where she competed in track, cross country and basketball. Mrs. Seppala earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at the University of Arizona in 1997. In 2001, she received her Master’s of Science degree in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner, from the U of A.
Ruth’s interest in medicine came from her family. Her mother, grandmother and an aunt were nurses. She was originally a pre-med student but she spent a day with a nurse practitioner and it convinced her that it was the job for her. She could use her nursing background and there wouldn’t be so much school.
“I liked the nursing, caring and compassion part plus I would get to treat the patient,” she said.
Mrs. Seppala took some time off from her education to coach track at Canyon del Oro High School. She said she used to coach with Rick Glider, the former cross-country coach at San Manuel High School. She said Rick would bring the team up to Oracle to run in the hills as part of their conditioning training.
Ruth enjoys outdoor activities including hiking and running. She spends a lot of her time following her son and daughter’s sports activities and supporting local sports groups. She is a believer in getting people exercising and eating healthy.
Ruth is involved in her community. She has been on the Board of Directors of Beads of Courage for 16 years. Beads of Courage is a non-profit organization that provides innovative art-in-medicine supportive care programs for children coping with serious illnesses, their families and health care providers that care for them. This program was founded in Tucson in 2003 and is now established in over 240 children’s hospitals in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan.
She enjoys working for Sun Life and when asked what she liked about her job, she said she loves the patients, the people she sees and works with.
“We have a great staff here, oriented to take care of our patients and go above and beyond to take care of them. If you are not a patient already, I would hope that the community would consider us. We are here and local. We try to accommodate and get people in as quickly as possible. Consider us for being your primary care provider,” she added.
You can make an appointment to see Ruth Seppala by calling the Oracle Sun Life office at 520-896-2092.