Back home: Lukens (Worrall) will be PA at medical center

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Meredith Lukens has deep roots in Charles City, and now she is coming home to be a physician assistant with Floyd County Medical Center.

Lukens, formerly Meredith Worrall, will begin working Feb. 3 at the clinic and hospital, alongside some of the same people who helped guide her career, she said.

Lukens said that her family in Charles City has always doctored at the Floyd County Medical Center and its clinic, and she had developed personal relationships with some of the medical staff.

“Dr. (Joseph) Molnar and Dr. (Janet) Tull and Jodi (Heyer, PA) really mentored me when I said I was interested in going into medicine, in helping me figure out which route I wanted to go,” she said.

“I’m very close with all those providers out there, as friends and colleagues as well as mentors,” she said.

She said she decided to become a physician assistant both because of the time required to become a doctor versus a PA, but also because of the nature of the relationship between PA and patient.

“I feel like we are allowed the opportunity to really sit down and get to know our patients, as well as be part of their medical care. I also like the idea of being part of a team versus just being on my own, whereas PAs can ask questions and brainstorm with the doctors,” she said.

Lukens’ parents are Brad Worrall, a lieutenant with the Charles City Police Department, and Heidi Worrall, a vice president at First Security Bank and Trust.

Her grandfather, Gene Worrall, now deceased, was an administrator, science teacher and coach with the Charles City School District for more than 30 years.

Meredith is a 2010 graduate of Charles City High School, where many people may remember her as a softball player, as well as a volleyball player and tennis player.

From Charles City she went on to get her bachelor’s degree from Upper Iowa University and her Master of Science degree in physician assistant studies from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

It was at SIU where she met her future husband, Garrett Lukens, now a sergeant in the active duty National Guard. They have two daughters, Quincy, soon to be 7, and Vera, soon to be 1.

Lukens said she has been working for the past three years as a physician assistant at a clinic affiliated with Southern Illinois Healthcare in Herrin, Illinois, where they live, but now Garrett is getting ready for his first deployment — at least a year in Afghanistan.

“With his deployment we just wanted to be closer to family, which allowed for the opportunity to move back to Charles City,” Lukens said.

“I’m very, very excited to be back home with the people that I grew up with and have lived around for more than the first half of my life, and I’m excited to offer them care on the medical level,” Lukens said.

“And I’m excited to learn and be an extension of the doctors at Floyd Medical, because I didn’t realize what amazing care was offered to Charles City, being the size it is, until I left. We have some truly amazing providers and I just feel very humbled to even be considered on the same level as them,” she said.

Rod Nordeng, FCMC administrator, said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to have Meredith returning to Charles City and joining us at Floyd County Medical Center. We really feel like it’s coming full circle for her. Also, as we hear from those that join us, it really does feel like a family.”

Nordeng said there are no scheduled retirements among the physicians or other providers at the hospital and clinic, “but we always need to be prepared if a change in staffing should occur, so we will continue to recruit for not only the immediate future, but also down the road.”

He said it’s important for the medical center to continue a “robust” provider recruitment and retention program, because of the challenges in attracting medical professionals to a rural community, as well as the challenge of finding providers who are interested in delivering babies.