Kayla Kimble - Karim HealthCare

Kayla Kimble

Working as a team with her patients

by Elyse Apel

Kayla Kimble has followed in the steps of many of the women in her family: taking care of her community as a medical professional. She now works as a physician assistant at Karim HealthCare.

“I always wanted to be in medicine somehow,” Kayla explains. “Many of the women that I look up to in my family, including my mom, are nurses, so there is a long history of that being the career path.”

Kayla grew up in Ohio, graduating from the University of Toledo with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2014.

After graduating, Kayla didn’t immediately move into the medical field.

“I began working with adults who have autism as an undergraduate student. After I graduated from there, I worked for several years in a community setting with adults who had autism, and I also worked in a nursing home,” Kayla says. “I just wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go from there.”

Kayla eventually attended the physician assistant program at Kettering College in Kettering, Ohio, just graduating from that program this past August.

“I just wasn’t sure what my niche was going in. I had always been drawn to medicine and just didn’t know how I could best use my talents and my passions to help people. The PA program caught my attention because of the flexibility you can have with your specialty,” she says. “I found my passion during school there.”

Kayla has finally found her niche working with chronic conditions and preventative care.

“At Dr. Karim’s office, I do a lot of chronic condition management, including issues like COPD, diabetes, hypertension, and regular patient visits. I also really like women’s health and preventative care,” she says. “I really believe in becoming a team with a patient and making a plan that works for both the patient and for the provider. I enjoy encouraging people to take an active role in their health care conditions and feel really drawn to working with people to improve their health.”

Kayla says she enjoys that, as a physician assistant, she is continuing to learn about a wide variety of areas and conditions, while building relationships with patients.

“Being a physician assistant allows me to continue learning forever,” she says. “It is really satisfying to be able to help people with chronic conditions, especially when it has clicked and we finally crack the code for managing their condition. When a patient really understands what needs to be done to manage their health, that’s when you can really make a difference for somebody that changes their life.”

Kayla’s positive experiences in her personal life with medical practitioners has inspired her.

“I’ve had that really positive experience with a great provider in my past who helped me, and that has really motivated me to keep working with people to help them reach their goals in whatever way that may be.”

She added that it is important for her to alleviate barriers to good care for her patients, whenever possible.

“It can be really frustrating when there are barriers to care such as patients not having access to care or the cost of care,” Kayla explains. “I’m just doing my best to alleviate those barriers to care in any way that I can.”

Kayla says it is important to her that her patients know that she is fighting for them.

“Especially with the chronic care patients, I am seeing people so frequently that you really do get to know them and become a team with them. You are working together to try to manage their conditions,” she says. “That’s what I truly enjoy about it is getting to know people and becoming part of their team and part of their community.”

Since she joined Karim HealthCare, Kayla has helped to reopen the Litchfield location.

“It is very exciting because there are no other providers or clinics in Litchfield, so it is kind of my pet project to keep that office open,” Kayla says.

In her free time, Kayla enjoys spending time outdoors and with her family.

“I have two dogs and I love to get outside and hike with them. Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan are just so beautiful,” Kayla says. “I like to garden and my husband and I are expecting our first child, so we are super excited about that.”

Karim HealthCare - Litchfield Office is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. and is located at 112 S. Chicago St., Litchfield, MI. Call (517) 797-4547 to make an appointment or for more information. Walk-in appointments are also welcome.

Karim HealthCare - Hillsdale Office is open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and is located at 3271 W. Carleton Rd., Hillsdale, MI.  Kayla has appointments at the Hillsdale Location on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call (517) 4373879 to make an appointment or for more information. Walk-in appointments are also welcome.