As the needs of the communities GAHHS serve grows, so to must GAHHS. In order to continue our promise to provide the very best patient experience, GAHHS has hired Anna Frank, a Certified Physician’s Assistant (PA-C). As a PA-C, Anna will assist GAHHS Medical Director Dr. Katherine Austman at the Family Health Care of Gibson City.
While Anna is currently a PA-C, she never intended on working in the medical field. Growing up outside of the Philadelphia suburbs, Anna graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education. Her degree provided her with few career opportunities and so after she was unable to find a teaching job in her discipline, she packed up and moved to Danville, IL. In Danville, Anna found employment with a family practice physician, William Hensold, M.D. and his son, James Hensold, M.D. After working with them for a few years, they convinced Anna to return to school to further her medical training.
Taking their advice, Anna attended Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville, TN. Here Anna received her training to become a Physician’s Assistant and after graduation she returned to Danville to continue to work with James Hensold, M.D. for 11 more years. After her employment with Dr. Hensold, Anna spent the next five years crisscrossing Illinois providing occupational medicine. This extensive travel eventually took its toll on Anna. “Because occupational medicine required a significant amount of travel I started to miss family medicine, so I decided to return to a family practice,” said Anna. “Fortunately for me, GAHHS had an opening with Dr. Austman, which I jumped at.”
