Coming home to care: Adena Health clinicians reunite to serve their hometown

GREENFIELD, OH (March 26, 2025) – When Alex Anderson, DO, and certified nurse practitioner Krystal Simmons were recently reunited at Adena Family Medicine – Greenfield, they were thrilled to be working together to care for the hometown they love.

“I’ve had so many people in this community support me and help get me to where I wanted to go,” Dr. Anderson said. “I really wanted to come back home to be one of those people who pours that support into others.”

“This is my home and this is where I want to work,” Krystal said. “I feel like I have the best of every world here. I’m able to work in the family medicine clinic, see patients at Greenfield Skilled Nursing and Rehab, and still be able to do home visits. I love being able to care for people in my hometown.”

At the very heart of the profession is caring for others. Having the opportunity to do that for the community that nurtured them is something special for Krystal, who joined the Greenfield practice in January, and Dr. Anderson, who has been at Adena Family Medicine – Greenfield since September 2024.

The two clinicians have family connections going back to their childhood. Both attended Buckskin Elementary School and graduated from McClain High School five years apart.

“Our siblings also knew each other through school, and Alex’s father, who was my science teacher, was one of my biggest inspirations for going into nursing,” Krystal said.

Acting on that inspiration, Krystal got her state-tested nurse aide designation out of high school and went to work for a skilled nursing facility in Greenfield. Then, after becoming a licensed practical nurse, she began a career with Adena that has spanned more than 10 years, seen her achieve her registered nurse certification, and given her the opportunity to complete her clinical training at various locations across the health system.

She was motivated by her mentors within the organization to pursue her master’s degree in nursing and become a nurse practitioner. Upon earning that designation, Krystal spent about a year practicing in Hillsboro before a position at Adena Family Medicine – Greenfield came open.

Dr. Anderson, meanwhile, always had an interest in science. When that interest collided with one of his other passions – sports – he thought a career in athletic training was in his future. Thanks to a suggestion from his athletic trainer and his interactions with physicians following a significant knee injury he suffered, he decided to become a physician instead.

Following medical school, where he discovered family medicine was his true love, Dr. Anderson decided to stay close to home and become involved in Adena’s residency program that was, at the time, led by Edward Onusko, MD, a staple in the Greenfield community. After completing his residency, he had the opportunity to remain with Adena practicing in Waverly through the same federal program that had brought both Dr. Onusko and Richard Mizer, MD, another staple of family medicine in Greenfield, to southern Ohio.

As soon as an opportunity arose to return to his hometown to practice, Dr. Anderson took it.

“This is definitely where I want to be,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of patients ask me if I ever plan to leave, and honestly, I hope this is the last job I’ll ever have.”

Because both providers cherish the relationships with those they care for in their hometown, they believe in taking the time to get to know their patients, building the trust that is so essential in providing the best possible care, and making sure their communication is clear and transparent.

Building those strong relationships is important to them because, by providing for the health of each patient, they are caring for the health of the entire community they know and love.

“The people that I take care of in the morning are the people I’m seeing in the evening at basketball games or the people I’m taking care of Friday are the people I’m seeing in church on Sunday,” Krystal said. “When you love what you do, you’ll feel like you’ve never worked a day in your life, and that’s what I’m blessed to have in Greenfield.”

For compassionate, hometown care from providers who truly understand your community, visit Adena.org/primarycare or call 770-779-FIND (3463) to schedule your appointment today.