QMG Stories

Bon­nie Sor­rells had been expe­ri­enc­ing acid reflux for years, which she self-treat­ed with over-the-counter med­ica­tion — until one day she had dif­fi­cul­ty swallowing.

Women have long been the back­bone of both the help­ing and health­care pro­fes­sions, pro­vid­ing care and sup­port to indi­vid­u­als and com­mu­ni­ties in need. As we cel­e­brate Women’s His­to­ry Month, it’s impor­tant to rec­og­nize the count­less con­tri­bu­tions that women have made to this field. From doc­tors and nurs­es to social work­ers and ther­a­pists, women have played a vital role in pro­mot­ing health and well­ness for all.

As the world cel­e­brates Inter­na­tion­al Women’s Day, it is impor­tant to rec­og­nize the incred­i­ble accom­plish­ments of women in var­i­ous fields. One such woman is Nihari­ka Yed­la, MD, an endocri­nol­o­gist at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG). Dr. Yed­la grew up in New Del­hi, India, and fol­lowed in her mother’s foot­steps to become a doc­tor. Her sto­ry is a tes­ta­ment to the impor­tance of hav­ing strong role mod­els and the impact of a career in medicine.

Gary and Ash­ley Hack­mann are a mar­ried cou­ple who have ded­i­cat­ed their careers to car­ing for stu­dent-ath­letes and help­ing them stay safe while reach­ing help­ing them reach their full poten­tial. They are both cer­ti­fied ath­let­ic train­ers at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG).

Ryan and Hope Owens are both nurse prac­ti­tion­ers at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG). Ryan works in our Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) depart­ment and Hope works in our Car­di­ol­o­gy depart­ment. They’ve been mar­ried for 10 years, but togeth­er for 17.

Dar­lene and Mar­i­on ​“Butch” Augspurg own and oper­ate a Christ­mas tree farm, The Branch Ranch, in Philadel­phia, MO. They love to share the Christ­mas spir­it and have been able to do that through their farm for a quar­ter of a cen­tu­ry after retir­ing. They attribute their health and abil­i­ty to keep going strong to the great care they receive from Quin­cy Med­ical Group.

We first brought you Denise Poland’s sto­ry in Feb­ru­ary. You can read that sto­ry here. At that time she was just months into her treat­ment for breast can­cer. With Octo­ber being Breast Can­cer Aware­ness Month, we want­ed to check in on her and her journey.

We first shared Bill Farquhar’s sto­ry with you in Feb. 2022. Bill was diag­nosed with prostate can­cer in 2020 after a rou­tine doctor’s vis­it. Since then, he has received treat­ment from Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG). Through­out his treat­ment, he was cared for by QMG Radi­a­tion Oncol­o­gist Dr. Michael Fal­lon and QMG Urol­o­gist Dr. Matthew Knud­son. On Sept. 28, 2022, he had a vis­it with Dr. Knud­son where he got some good news. Bill tells his sto­ry below in his own words and shares how his jour­ney inspired him to use his diag­no­sis for good.

Today, August 26, is Women’s Equal­i­ty Day. Women’s Equal­i­ty Day com­mem­o­rates the pas­sage of the 19^th Amend­ment to the U.S. Con­sti­tu­tion, grant­i­ng the right to vote to women. This day is about uplift­ing and empow­er­ing women and rec­og­niz­ing how far women have pro­gressed from a time when women could not even vote in our country.

Since the age of 10, Anas­ta­sia Woods can remem­ber always strug­gling with her feet. Going to the store to pick out a pair of shoes was nev­er a fun out­ing, it was a dread­ed one.