Physician Assistant Jessica Mathenia, PA-C, is passionate about helping people achieve their best overall health.
“Wellness and health is very important to me personally so I really like that I can spend time with people and talk with them about ways they can improve their health whether it be through medications or just through lifestyle changes. I feel like so many people just need a little guidance. It can make a big difference,” she said.
Mathenia joined the Sarah Bush Lincoln Toledo Clinic in November and enjoys caring for people in an area that’s close to family. She works alongside Family Practice Physician Adree Venatta, MD. While Mathenia grew up in rural Pennsylvania, her husband, Jeremy Mathenia, has family in Toledo, Charleston and Mattoon. He is a physician assistant at Family Medical Center in Mattoon.
Mathenia graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Penn State University in 2008. She received a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies from Medical University of South Carolina in August 2011, where her husband also studied and received his degree.
The couple moved to Marion after graduating and started practicing at clinics affiliated with Christopher Rural Health in Southern Illinois. Mathenia gained experience caring for people at the Eldorado Rural Health Clinic. “It was a neat first job because I got to learn about family medicine and I also saw the results of the opioid crisis that we’re in right now. I helped [Dr. Michael Blain, DO] with treating patients and getting them off hydrocodone and oxycodone,” she said.
Mathenia later fulfilled a need at the Johnston City Community Health Center, where she cared for mostly children and adolescents, as well as performing well women exams. “It was a completely different experience than my first job, but I loved them both,” she said.
The couple moved to the area in January 2016, after having their first child in 2015, to be closer to family. Mathenia gained experience in acute care by working in the Charleston and Mattoon Walk-In clinics. Her second child was born in 2017.
She is excited to return to family medicine and care for people in Toledo. “I realized I missed the relationships that you establish with people and just becoming familiar with them so it’s nice to come in here and get to know people,” she said.
When she’s not at work, Mathenia is busy caring for her children, Sienna, 3, and Rhett, 10 months, and staying physically active. She and her husband run and are members of a Charleston cross fit group. Mathenia is at the SBL Toledo Clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
For more information or to make an appointment with Mathenia, call the SBL Toledo Clinic at 217-849-3151 or go to www.sarahbush.org.