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Biography

Nickie Ralston, cardiovascular nurse practitioner, provides comprehensive care for patients at Goshen Heart & Vascular Center. As a lifelong resident of Goshen, Nickie is dedicated to helping address the healthcare needs of the community. She promotes optimal health by educating her patients about how to prevent cardiovascular disease and manage chronic conditions, such as coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Nickie has advanced her critical thinking skills and treatment of chronic health conditions throughout her career, including two decades as a registered nurse in internal medicine and critical care.

Philosophy of Care

Nickie balances her clinical understanding of each patient’s overall condition with evidence-based practices and individual preferences to determine an acceptable course of care.

Clinical Interest

With previous experience in family and internal medicine, Nickie understands chronic disease and how it affects the cardiovascular system. She focuses on the prevention and medical management of cardiovascular risk factors.

Biography

Sadat Rashid, MD, provides comprehensive gastroenterological services for patients with digestive and liver disorders. Dr. Rashid specializes in gastrointestinal oncology and advanced interventional endoscopic procedures. He is specially trained in the advanced techniques to diagnose, stage and treat diseases of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, liver, small intestine and colon. Dr. Rashid has extensive experience with diagnostic and interventional endoscopic techniques to diagnose certain diseases of the gastrointestinal system. He performs various endoscopic procedures to remove diseased tissue from the digestive tract, including endoscopic resections, colonoscopies and radiofrequency ablations. He also is trained in advanced therapies, such as percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement.

Biography

Kristan Rheinheimer is a board certified nurse practitioner with Goshen Center for Cancer Care. As part of the medical oncology team, she helps patients navigate their chemotherapy and biotherapy. Kristan works side-by-side with patients and a multidisciplinary team to deliver personalized care that is centered around each patient’s preferences and needs.
 
As an Advanced Oncology Nurse Practitioner, Kristan has experience with all forms of infusion therapy. She is specially trained in delivery of chemotherapy and pain management medications.
 
Kristan has devoted most of her nursing career to caring for patients with cancer. She first joined the Goshen Hospital cancer team in 1999 as a staff nurse and was instrumental in developing education programs for patients and nursing Colleagues.

Philosophy of Care

For Kristan, quality care means taking a patient-focused approach from diagnosis to survivorship. She embraces each patient's individuality as she delivers compassionate care in a healing and safe environment. Kristan places strong emphasis on education, symptom management, surveillance and palliative care.

Research Interest

Kristan has co-authored articles on biomarkers in prostate cancer and a radio-guided surgical technique that have appeared in leading, peer-reviewed oncology journals.

Biography

Neli Ribbens is a registered dietitian at Goshen Center for Cancer Care. She provides nutrition therapy and individualized education to patients and their families from the start of cancer treatment through survivorship.

Neli focuses on symptom management and encourages healthy, supportive nutrition choices for patients going through chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. She works closely with a team of oncologists, naturopathic doctors and mind-body counselors to provide the highest level of care for patients.

Philosophy of Care

Patient education is key to Neli’s approach to nutrition care. She places a high priority on providing evidencebased information about food and the essential role it plays throughout cancer treatment and survivorship. Her holistic approach means Neli considers the whole person, not just the specific site of disease. She forms strong partnerships with patients to help reduce side effects during and after treatment, as well as promote overall nutrition wellness.

Clinical Interest

Neli’s passion for oncology nutrition allows her to explore and develop nutrition approaches that incorporate whole foods and many fruits and vegetables. She creates dietary interventions for patients focused on reduction of side effects like weight loss, and promotion of optimal health during active treatment and recovery.

Research Interest

Neli’s studies and research complement her clinical practice as an inpatient and outpatient oncology dietitian. She has co-authored clinical studies on patient response and outcomes to disease-specific nutrition therapies.

Biography

Kylee Rohatgi is a board certified family nurse practitioner at Goshen Physicians Family Medicine & Urgent Care. She treats patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly and everyone in between. Whether treating an infection or managing a chronic condition, Kylee takes a team-based approach to deliver high quality care with the best possible outcomes.

Previous nursing experiences in cardiac medicine and surgery as well as endoscopic procedures have given Kylee a broad understanding of disease processes and patient care. She also has helped advance future leaders in nursing as an assistant professor in nursing at Goshen College.

When Kylee is away from her clinical role, she enjoys traveling, reading, sports, music and spending time with family and friends.

Philosophy of Care

Kylee believes educating patients about their health and wellbeing is a vital part of health care. She focuses on working with patients and their families to provide complete, compassionate care.

Clinical Interest

Evidence-based research forms the foundation for Kylee’s decision-making process. Her holistic approach combines clinical expertise with patient values to identify treatment options and a plan of care that meets the patient’s needs.

Biography

Patrick Russell, DO, is a board certified neurologist with Goshen Physicians NeuroCare Center. He is a widely respected neurologist in Elkhart County where he has practiced neurology for 26 years. He is a compassionate physician dedicated to the highest quality neurological care. As an officer in the U.S. Navy, Dr. Russell served as a flight surgeon from 1984 to 1988. He received recognition for his service, including Navy Commendation and Navy Achievement Medals. He has also received the Distinguished Hoosier Award, one of the highest awards given to Indiana citizens by the governor, for his service on the Indiana State Medical Licensing Board.

Philosophy of Care

Dr. Russell is committed to providing compassionate, personalized neurological care for patients in our community. He believes excellent neurological care depends upon the communication between patient and physician.

Clinical Interest

Dr. Russell diagnoses and treats the full spectrum of neurological disorders, referring to neurological subspecialties when necessary. He maintains a special interest in headache diagnosis and therapy including the administration of Botox for treatment of chronic migraine.

Biography

Mark Ranzinger, MD, FACS, is a board certified general surgeon who performs a broad range of surgical procedures. Dr. Ranzinger focuses on minimally invasive surgery using laparoscopic approaches for benign conditions, such as gastroesophageal reflux, paraesophageal hernias, achalasia, splenic diseases and hernias. He also is trained in surgery for certain cancers of the pancreas, adrenal glands and colon.

Philosophy of Care

Throughout his career, Dr. Ranzinger has received numerous honors and awards, both as a teacher and surgeon. Dr. Ranzinger views surgery as a combination of art and science. He believes good clinical judgment is developed by a commitment to lifelong learning and by giving every patient the time and personalized care they need and deserve.

Clinical Interest

Dr. Ranzinger has many distinguishing accomplishments in teaching, clinical research and clinical practice. He serves as medical director of two hospitals in Africa where he has instructed students and professionals in rural surgical practice. He also has given presentations nationally and abroad on remote medical practice. Dr. Ranzinger’s work has been published in Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Southern Medical Journal and The American Surgeon.