FNP clinicals in East Central Indiana, Ball State's home region
East Central Indiana is the 13-county region around Ball State's Muncie campus, and its hospitals treat nurse practitioner students differently. IU Health Ball Memorial routes NP students through a statewide database, Community Health Network names Ball State among its affiliated schools, and Reid Health in Richmond limits online programs. That is why a search here also covers independent primary care offices and community health centers.
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Thirteen counties around Muncie
This guide follows the Indiana Department of Health's District 6: Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Howard, Jay, Madison, Randolph, Rush, Tipton, Union and Wayne counties, home to 632,696 people in 2025 by Census Bureau estimate. Madison County (Anderson) is the largest at 135,088, ahead of Delaware County (Muncie) at 113,106.
Only Delaware, Madison, Howard and Tipton are metropolitan counties under the USDA's 2023 codes; Blackford, Jay, Randolph, Rush and Union sit outside any metro or micro area. Mileage below is an approximate routing estimate.
| Town | County | 2025 population | Drive from Muncie |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muncie | Delaware | 65,466 | Campus |
| Anderson | Madison | 56,153 | Roughly 21 miles |
| New Castle | Henry | 17,390 | Roughly 21 miles |
| Portland | Jay | 6,237 | Roughly 30 miles |
| Marion | Grant | 28,234 | Roughly 40 miles |
| Richmond | Wayne | 35,376 | Roughly 42 miles |
| Connersville | Fayette | 13,406 | Roughly 46 miles |
| Kokomo | Howard | 59,999 | Roughly 58 miles |
IU Health Ball Memorial and IU Health's NP rules
IU Health runs Ball Memorial in Muncie and critical access hospitals in Portland (IU Health Jay) and Tipton; IU Health Blackford in Hartford City has been outpatient only since 2023. Its local Student Placement Services office handles Ball Memorial, Blackford, Jay and the Ball physician practices and requires an educational affiliation agreement, but says nothing about nurse practitioner students.
NP students follow IU Health's statewide route. According to its student pages, advanced practice students apply through the Office of Clinical Education (OCE) database in fixed windows, and OCE pairs them with IU Health preceptors. Eligibility is limited to students whose primary residence and nursing license are both in Indiana, and students may not approach IU Health providers on their own. A student OCE leaves unmatched may look outside IU Health.
The mistake to avoid near Muncie: asking an IU Health nurse practitioner you know to take you on. IU Health sends every NP request through OCE, and a rotation arranged around it can count against your later requests.
Community Hospital Anderson and Community Howard
Community Health Network runs Community Hospital Anderson and Community Howard Regional Health in Kokomo. Its "Affiliated Schools (as of September 2026)" list includes Ball State University, Nursing, without saying which Ball State programs that entry covers.
If you need Community to find the preceptor, its NP deadlines are January 1 for summer, May 1 for fall and September 1 for spring, with no late applications. If a Community provider has already agreed to precept you, apply at least 30 days before the rotation. Community prioritizes its own caregivers and discourages cold calls to providers you have no existing tie with.
Richmond, Marion, Rushville and the smaller hospitals
Outside the two big systems, each hospital sets its own terms, as its own pages record them.
- Reid Health, Richmond. Its APP interest form wants six months' notice, favors Reid employees, Indiana University East students and local residents, and says that after May 1, 2019 Reid stopped accepting students from "Online Exclusive" schools or programs without CCNE or ACEN accreditation. Ball State's master's is CCNE accredited; how Reid classifies it is not stated. An archived copy of its medical education page ruled out APP hours in women's health and pediatrics.
- Reid Health Connersville. The new campus is outpatient, with a 24-hour emergency department since April 8, 2026 and no inpatient beds.
- Marion Health. According to an archived copy of its careers page, Ball State University is one of 11 schools it partners with for student rotations. No request process is published.
- Rush Memorial Hospital, Rushville. According to an archived copy of its student page, Human Resources' Training and Development coordinates rotations and identifies the preceptor itself, and students should not contact its providers directly.
- Marion VA Medical Center. VA Northern Indiana lists nurse practitioner rotations, arranged through its education office under a school affiliation agreement.
- Landmarks only. Henry Community Health (New Castle) and Ascension St. Vincent Anderson, Kokomo, Mercy (Elwood) and Randolph (Winchester) publish no NP student process.
Health centers, shortage areas and the AHEC
HRSA lists 11 health center organizations here. Meridian Health Services has 33 sites in 11 of the 13 counties, Neighborhood Health Center 11 in Wayne, Fayette and Union, Jane Pauley Community Health Center 10 in Madison and Howard, and Open Door Health Services seven in Delaware County. IU School of Medicine-Muncie, based inside Ball Memorial, names Meridian, Open Door and American Health Network as clinical partners, so medical students use those sites too.
HRSA's September 2026 records show low-income primary care shortage designations in nine counties, Delaware, Madison and Grant among them, and geographic ones in Jay, Rush and Union (Blackford and Randolph are proposed for withdrawal). East Central Indiana AHEC is hosted by Ball State and covers Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Jay, Madison and Randolph; the AHEC network describes rotation help for medical and allied health students and does not name nursing, so treat it as context, not an NP route.
Matching your Ball State course to a site near home
Ball State expects you to find your own preceptor where you live, with faculty support if problems arise. Every FNP site must be primary care, outside your own unit or clinic, and signed onto Ball State's standard affiliation agreement about a semester ahead.
NUR 634andNUR 681: a family practice or health center in Muncie, Anderson or New Castle keeps the weekly drive short, and the 8-hour campus day inNUR 681becomes a local trip.NUR 682andNUR 684: both sit on IU Health's list of most-requested NP specialties and were ruled out at Reid, so start these searches first.NUR 683and the 180-hourNUR 673: a family practice with room for 1.5 to 2 days a week by the final term.NUR 672for educators and leaders: Ball State allows the workplace under a master's- or doctoral-prepared RN, while the MS FAQ rules out your own unit (workplace rules).
Why East Central students choose us
Around Muncie, clinical space is shared with Ball State's BSN cohorts, IU School of Medicine-Muncie and every school on Marion Health's list. We find preceptors in the practices and health centers that fit your exact course, check each against Ball State's rules and the hospital rules above, and hand you what the clinical packet and agreement need a semester ahead, with a backup. Start on the placement request form.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can I do Ball State FNP clinicals at IU Health Ball Memorial?
Only through IU Health's own process. Its pages say NP students apply through the Office of Clinical Education in set windows, need Indiana residence and an Indiana nursing license, and may not approach IU Health providers themselves, because OCE assigns the preceptor. If you are not matched, IU Health says you may look outside its system.
Does Reid Health accept Ball State nurse practitioner students?
Reid's form names no schools. It turns away programs it calls online exclusive and favors employees, IU East students and local residents. Ball State's master's is online with an FNP campus day, so ask Reid how it reads your program at least six months before the course, and keep a second site in view.
How far is the Muncie campus day from Richmond or Kokomo?
Roughly 42 miles from Richmond and 58 from Kokomo by road. The campus day is one 8-hour clinical day inside NUR 681, with details shared through the course, and Ball State's graduate catalog makes clinical travel costs the student's own.
Are there FNP options in rural Jay, Randolph or Union County?
Yes. Portland and Winchester have critical access hospitals, Meridian Health Services has sites in Jay and Randolph, and Neighborhood Health Center reaches Union County, all in HRSA shortage areas. A rural office still needs Ball State's affiliation agreement and course faculty approval.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Ball State's own catalog, graduate handbook, program pages and State Authorization Map, and Indiana rules. Your course faculty, your advisor and the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Ball State asks you to find your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Ball State track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course, confirm the practice will sign Ball State's affiliation agreement, and line up a backup, so the School of Nursing can clear the site before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NUR 682, women's health forNUR 684, adult primary care forNUR 681andNUR 683 - Outside your own unit or clinic, in a state where Ball State's program is authorized
- Across Indiana, from Muncie to Evansville, and in the other states Ball State accepts
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