provider profile

Community HealthCare System will offer orthopedic services starting in August. Dr. Heidi Smith of Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center in Manhattan will take appointments in Onaga every other Wednesday each month starting August 11.

Dr. Smith provides care for a wide variety of general orthopedic complaints and injuries in patients of all ages and functional status. Her area of specialty is orthopedic surgery, and she has additional specialty training in sports medicine/arthroscopy,...

Dr. Tom Walsh, who moved back to Onaga in 1975 to practice medicine with his father, has announced that he plans to retire by the end of 2021.

“This is my hometown. I love the people here. I have enjoyed practicing here all these years, and it has been a blessing for myself and my family,” Dr. Walsh said.

Dr. Walsh was newly married to Marcia Walsh when he came back to Onaga, and they carried all of their possession in the back of a borrowed pickup truck. They raised...

Claire Blumer, physician assistant, will join the Community HealthCare System Centralia Clinic in early April. Blumer will see patients Wednesday through Friday each week and is eager to develop personal relationships with her patients.

“No two days are the same in family practice, and I appreciate the variety of ages and medical cases that come with this field,” Blumer said.

She particularly appreciates rural medical practice.

“I...

Andy Barnes, APRN, will be joining Community HealthCare System full-time in February 2021. Barnes previously worked on an as-needed basis and provided care in the Emergency Department and family practice clinics at CHCS for two and a half years and continues with Stormont Vail Emergency Room, where he has been for more than 15 years. In his new role at CHCS, Barnes will work three days a week in Centralia Clinic and Onaga Clinic, plus continue to be on call one weekend per month.

“We...

Jeremy Brandt is a physician assistant and licensed X-ray technologist. He serves as lead provider in the Frankfort Clinic as well as co-clinical advisor for the Northeast Kansas Healthcare Coalition.

He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Kansas Air National Guard 190th Air Refueling Wing, Forbes Field, Topeka, Kansas. He continues to serve after more than 20 years in the Armed Forces, and he deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 with the 2-130...

Michele Reisinger is a board-certified family nurse practitioner who sees patients in Onaga and Corning. She is also a full-time graduate-level nursing faculty member at Washburn University School of Nursing and serves as Primary Investigator on a Health Resources & Services Administration-funded grant.

Michele recently answered a few questions about the many hats she wears. Take a moment to learn more about this amazing CHCS associate!