Greenville Native Returns to Practice in Community
May 19, 2025
HSHS Holy Family Hospital and Greenville Family Medicine are proud to announce a strategic joint recruitment agreement aimed at expanding access to primary care and strengthening local health care services in Greenville and the surrounding communities.
Dr. Whitney Leininger, a Greenville native, recently signed on to join Greenville Family Medicine and will begin seeing patients this summer. She will provide primary care services and will also be performing endoscopy procedures at HSHS Holy Family Hospital.
This partnership represents a collaborative effort to attract and retain talented medical professionals to the area, ensuring that residents of Greenville and surrounding rural communities continue to have access to comprehensive and coordinated care close to home.
In addition, Dr. Leininger already has deeply rooted family connections to health care in Bond County. She is the daughter of Cindy Gray, a long-serving advanced practice registered nurse with HSHS Medical Group in Greenville, and her siblings are also part of the local health care community and currently working at Holy Family Hospital: Kayla Thompkins works in the pharmacy and Hunter Gray is an emergency department nurse.
“This collaborative approach, beneficial to both the hospital and practice, is made all the more unique in that we can bring a homegrown professional like Whitney back to serve where she grew up,” said Teresa Cornelius, DNP, RN, CENP, Chief Administrative Officer at Holy Family Hospital. “This is an investment to ensure we can meet our patients’ need for access to quality care now and in the future, so they know we are committed to caring for them and their families.”
The growing national shortage of family medicine physicians and the unique challenges rural communities face in recruiting health care providers are some of the reasons for joint partnerships like this. Recruitment initiatives focus on bringing family medicine physicians and advanced practice providers who are committed to rural health care, long-term community engagement and high-quality, relationship-centered care.
Dr. Philip Siefken of Greenville Family Medicine emphasized the long-term vision. “This practice has been in this community since the 1950s starting with Dr. Frankel and Dr. Daisy. We remain committed to excellence in healthcare for our town and so is HSHS Holy Family Hospital. Greenville has a longstanding history of providing high quality family medical care and the addition of Dr. Leininger is about building a sustainable future, with continuity for patients and support for providers,” he said. “And we are very excited to welcome Dr. Leininger back home and to our family of care.”
The overall benefit for patients is expanded local access and reduced wait times for appointments once the new provider joins. Dr. Leininger plans to open her practice to new patients as insurance allows. In addition, there will be a strong continuity of care and coordination model in place, as the practice will continue to work closely with the hospital.
Photo Caption: Greenville Family Medicine and HSHS Holy Family Hospital proudly welcome Greenville native Dr. Whitney Leininger, who is joining the practice and medical staff of the hospital in July of 2025. Pictured left to right: Dr. Kelsey Hopkins, Dr. Philip Siefken, Dr. Whitney Leininger, Jeremy Leininger, Teresa Cornelius, HSHS Holy Family Chief Administrative Officer, and Mike Janis, HSHS Southern Illinois Market Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Whitney Leininger, a Greenville native, recently signed on to join Greenville Family Medicine and will begin seeing patients this summer. She will provide primary care services and will also be performing endoscopy procedures at HSHS Holy Family Hospital.
This partnership represents a collaborative effort to attract and retain talented medical professionals to the area, ensuring that residents of Greenville and surrounding rural communities continue to have access to comprehensive and coordinated care close to home.
In addition, Dr. Leininger already has deeply rooted family connections to health care in Bond County. She is the daughter of Cindy Gray, a long-serving advanced practice registered nurse with HSHS Medical Group in Greenville, and her siblings are also part of the local health care community and currently working at Holy Family Hospital: Kayla Thompkins works in the pharmacy and Hunter Gray is an emergency department nurse.
“This collaborative approach, beneficial to both the hospital and practice, is made all the more unique in that we can bring a homegrown professional like Whitney back to serve where she grew up,” said Teresa Cornelius, DNP, RN, CENP, Chief Administrative Officer at Holy Family Hospital. “This is an investment to ensure we can meet our patients’ need for access to quality care now and in the future, so they know we are committed to caring for them and their families.”
The growing national shortage of family medicine physicians and the unique challenges rural communities face in recruiting health care providers are some of the reasons for joint partnerships like this. Recruitment initiatives focus on bringing family medicine physicians and advanced practice providers who are committed to rural health care, long-term community engagement and high-quality, relationship-centered care.
Dr. Philip Siefken of Greenville Family Medicine emphasized the long-term vision. “This practice has been in this community since the 1950s starting with Dr. Frankel and Dr. Daisy. We remain committed to excellence in healthcare for our town and so is HSHS Holy Family Hospital. Greenville has a longstanding history of providing high quality family medical care and the addition of Dr. Leininger is about building a sustainable future, with continuity for patients and support for providers,” he said. “And we are very excited to welcome Dr. Leininger back home and to our family of care.”
The overall benefit for patients is expanded local access and reduced wait times for appointments once the new provider joins. Dr. Leininger plans to open her practice to new patients as insurance allows. In addition, there will be a strong continuity of care and coordination model in place, as the practice will continue to work closely with the hospital.
Photo Caption: Greenville Family Medicine and HSHS Holy Family Hospital proudly welcome Greenville native Dr. Whitney Leininger, who is joining the practice and medical staff of the hospital in July of 2025. Pictured left to right: Dr. Kelsey Hopkins, Dr. Philip Siefken, Dr. Whitney Leininger, Jeremy Leininger, Teresa Cornelius, HSHS Holy Family Chief Administrative Officer, and Mike Janis, HSHS Southern Illinois Market Chief Operating Officer.
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Andrew Dilbeck
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