These new obstetrics providers deliver the goods

We are pleased to welcome Ashley Hieronimus, MD, and Kristen Budahn, MD, to our medical staff. Their practices are different – one is a specialist and the other is a primary care provider – but both are motivated by a passion for patient care and advocacy for good health. Meet them below, and you’ll see why we have great expectations.

Being born to a teenage mother spurred Ashley Hieronimus to become an advocate for contraception and prevention of teen pregnancy, and eventually to train as a physician specializing in women’s health.

“From the time I started thinking about careers, I knew I wanted to be a doctor,” she says. “I was completely sold the first time I saw a cesarean birth performed by a surgeon I was shadowing during college. I decided right then to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology.”

Areas of focus

At GRHS, Dr. Hieronimus provides care for normal and high-risk pregnancies and delivers babies vaginally and by cesarean section. She also performs a variety of gynecologic procedures in the operating room, including dilation and curettage (D&C) for abnormal uterine bleeding and miscarriages, minimally invasive laparoscopies to diagnose a variety of conditions, and surgical laparoscopies to remove ovarian cysts, ovaries and fallopian tubes. She performs abdominal and vaginal hysterectomies, but uses a laparoscope whenever possible.

“I enjoy everything about my specialty, but I’m especially passionate about caring for women with high-risk pregnancies, diagnosing and providing basic management of infertility, and performing gynecologic and obstetric surgery,” Dr. Hieronimus said.

Caring for two young women who died from cervical cancer fueled her passion for preventing that disease. “It’s really hard for me as an OB-GYN to see a patient die from cervical cancer because it’s preventable,” she says. “Routine screening can catch lesions before they become cancerous, and the HPV vaccine actually prevents cervical cancer.”

After hours

Born in Phoenix, Dr. Hieronimus grew up in Belle Plaine. Today she lives in Mayer with her husband, Brandon, and their three dogs. “I wanted to practice in a more rural setting and Glencoe was ideal for us. I have family in the area, and it’s not so far from the Twin Cities that we can’t drive there.”

Dr. Hieronimus enjoys kickboxing, reading and being outdoors with her husband, often for archery, cycling, golfing or paddleboarding.

Ashley

When she joined the GRHS medical staff this fall, Kristen Budahn, MD, was returning to familiar territory and some familiar patients. The family medicine specialist spent nine months in Glencoe during her third year of medical school in a program that offered hands-on experience practicing medicine in a rural community. Actually, Dr. Budahn never really left after that first taste of Glencoe. “My husband and I moved here for my training and we fell in love with the area, so we just stayed,” says Dr. Budahn. “I love the people, the community and the mission of GRHS.” She commuted to the Twin Cities to finish medical school and a residency at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park.

Areas of focus

In addition to her medical skills, many patients will benefit from Dr. Budahn’s fluency in Spanish. She studied Spanish throughout college, and used it during mission trips and while teaching high school math and science in the Dominican Republic the year before she started medical school. She also studied in Ecuador one summer during college and worked in an emergency room in Ecuador for a month during medical school.

Dr. Budahn sees patients of all ages for routine illness and injury care, preventive care and chronic condition management. She has training in obstetrics that enables her to provide care for uncomplicated pregnancies, deliver babies vaginally and attend water births. Besides obstetrics, her other special interests include pediatrics, sports medicine and all facets of dermatology from acne to rashes to skin cancer.

“I’m passionate about teaching my patients how to make good lifestyle decisions,” she says. “I’m an advocate for their health and I do what I can to better their lives.”

After hours

Dr. Budahn and her husband, Bryan, lead the youth group at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Glencoe, and Dr. Budahn accompanies the choir on piano. You may also see her at Panther Field House fitness classes or outdoors walking her puppy.