ROCHELLE — The Family Healthcare Clinic at Rochelle Community Hospital recently welcomed Kristi Gonzales, MSPAS, PA-C, to its list of providers as a physician assistant. 

Gonzales, a Rochelle native, brings 10 years of family medicine practice experience. She will focus on patient-centered care with patient-driven decision making, offering care to patients from birth to senior stages of life. Gonzales started at RCH on Jan. 27. 

“So far it's gone well,” Gonzales said. “The staff here is amazing. The team here is great and everyone seems to love their jobs. I've met with most of the managers and I have nothing but great things to say. The culture here seems great. Being here in it, it's been good. I see a lot of good patient care things and we can speak highly of a community hospital.”

After graduating from Rochelle Township High School, Gonzales graduated from the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor of science in kinesiology and later graduated with a master of science in physician assistant studies from Southern Illinois University. She’s been board certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants since 2014.

For the past 10 years, Gonzales has worked as a physician assistant at OSF HealthCare in Mendota. She lives in Rochelle with her husband and children. 

“I never thought I would leave Mendota and after 10 years it's really hard to leave all of your patients,” Gonzales said. Everyone and everything here has been great. I'm back home. I did 10 years of practice and rotations. I worked in multiple specialties including endocrinology, cardiology, general surgery, and women's health. I've done over 1,800 clinical hours. I had lots of good training.”

Before it became OSF HealthCare, the facility Gonzales worked at in Mendota was a community hospital. She has now returned to a community hospital in RCH. 

“I loved working there in both iterations,” Gonzales said. “Coming back to a community hospital again, it really shows the family drive that they're trying to accomplish here and just community health. That's a blessing that some people don't realize. It's not a big box hospital, but you can still get high-quality care when the patients are the priority. Sometimes that gets lost in bigger health systems. It's been a blessing to see that.”

At RCH, Gonzales said she’s looking forward to working to working in women’s health with Dr. Kendall Vogeler, which she’s enjoyed in the past. She also enjoys acute visits and same-day care, along with preventative care. Gonzales will offer a wide variety of healthcare needs and the ability to keep patients local at RCH or refer them if that’s what they want. 

After practicing for 10 years and getting set in her style of practice, Gonzales is ready to offer care in her hometown. 

“I feel good about being back here,” Gonzales said. “I prayed about whether it was the right move for me. I think it brings a higher level of passion and accountability. I already know everybody and I want the utmost care for people. We're human and we can only do so much, but it's been a pressure that's a privilege.”

During her senior year of high school, Gonzales decided that she wanted to go into the medical field because of her anatomy class and its teacher at RTHS. She found the physician assistant field of study in college and chose the family medicine specialty so she could be involved with a wide array of patient needs. 

The family medicine route has allowed for Gonzales to have a healthy work-life balance. Being a PA has also put her in a leadership role in medicine, something she desired in school. 

Gonzales and her husband are active in the Rochelle community and working at RCH will give her more time for that and her family. 

“It feels like a closed loop, being back home,” Gonzales said. “I'm excited about building on a quality of care that I see has been taking place already in this hospital. I know some people would just drive past Rochelle and go to Rockford for care. I don't feel that when I'm here. I see great quality of care here and that's important to me. I'm excited to be home.”