ATLANTIC, IOWA – Officials with Cass Health say the organization welcomed a record number of providers during the past year and continues to recruit more primary care physicians, specialists, and advanced practice providers to meet local demand. CEO Brett Altman says “We’ve seen an enormous amount of growth over the past five or six years, and we expect the local and regional demand for health care services to continue to increase. We’re committed to always being here for the communities we serve, and that means we must constantly be thinking about having the right number of staff to meet patients’ needs.”

Officials say during the last year, Cass Health welcomed several six providers, including: Dr. Adam Verhoef; Kellie Enderson, ARNP; Stacey Kasperbauer, ARNP; Emily James, ARNP; Emily Wittrock, ARNP, and Kevin Bohac, CRNA. Additionally, Cass Health added 13 specialists including Dr. Anjan Talukdar, Dr. John Park, Dr. Sumit Mukherjee, Dr. Paul Ganesan, Dr. Blake Bodendorfer, Dr. Rick Rinehart, Dr. Caliste Hsu, Dr. Brian Boes, Dr. Jeffrey Sartin, Dr. Anthony DeCicco, Dr. Thomas Schmidt, Dr. Stephen Slade, and Dr. Gino Chesini.

“During all of this, Dr. Elaine Berry also transitioned from a full-time physician to a full-time Chief Medical Officer, which also amplified our need to hire more new doctors,” said Altman. Chief Human Resources Officer Kolton Hewlett stressed that recruitment of family medicine providers is a continuous process, especially for rural facilities. He commented that, “We are thankful to be in a position where we are able to add new providers to our team. It’s good for our patients, and it’s a win for the community. With that being said, it saddens us to announce that one of our physicians will be leaving Cass Health next year.”

Dr. Edna Becht just announced that she will leave her practice at Cass Health in the summer of 2023. Dr. Becht will be moving to the Des Moines area to be closer to family. She spoke of her time at Cass Health as “living the dream.” “Cass Health has been a dream come true for a fresh residency graduate who wanted to do it all. I am humbled and grateful to have been welcomed into the hospital and the community with eager and open arms, and I am proud of the work I’ve done here,” said Dr. Becht.

Hewlett commented that, “We expect changes like this because as their families grow, or their needs and careers evolve, providers may change jobs. Coupling that knowledge with our forecasted growth, we are actively recruiting new family medicine providers all the time. We are excited to share that Massena native Whitney Schafer will be joining the Cass Health team as an advanced practice provider in December 2022. Additionally, just this week we signed another physician, Dr. Jeals Brines, a Leon, Iowa native who is completing family medicine residency in Des Moines and will begin at Cass Health in September 2024.”

For more information about the providers at Cass Health, visit casshealth.org.