Judy Winter, NP CHRISTUS Spohn Medical Group is pleased to announce the addition of a new full time nurse practitioner Judy Winter, NP to the office of Dr. Martin Boyd, MD, OB/GYN, at Spohn Kleberg.

Working in Kingsville will be familiar experience to Winter, due to her previously working at the Coastal Bend Women’s Center at Bay Area Hospital in Corpus Christi with Dr. E. Stanton Shoemaker, MD, OB/ GYN, and splitting her time between patients there and in his office in Kingsville.

“We are very excited to have her here with us,” Dr. Boyd said. “We know she will be a great addition to our team.”

Winter joins Dr. Boyd and Dr. Surendranath Ekanayake, MD at the practice, which is located at 1311 General Cavazos Boulevard, Suite 305.

Winter will start immediately and comes to the position with years of experience.

“I have been a nurse practitioner for 12 years and have been in the medical field for 34,” Winter said. “I have a true passion for nursing and I always knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Winter was born and raised in Sweetwater, and got her first taste of the medical field from working at a local doctor’s office as a medical assistant.

“At that time medical assistants didn’t have a title or specialized training so everything I learned was on the job training and I just picked up things as time went on,” Winter said.

Winter married her husband Monty, currently the city engineer for the City of Alice, and raised her family of two daughters and two stepsons, before going to college at the age of 34.

She earned her bachelors degree in nursing from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and went on to receive her nurse practitioners certification at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

The family later moved to Wyoming where her husband is from and moved to Corpus Christi two and half years ago for a change of scenery.

“We wanted to get away from all of the snow,” Winter said. “We both always wanted to live by the beach so Corpus was ideal.”

Winter said she is excited to be in Kingsville on a fulltime basis now because being from a small-town herself, she feels comfortable being able to relate to the people of the area.

“I have a heart for smalltown people and I love to get to know my patients and help them in any way I can,” Winter said. “Now at the age of 54, I have seen and done it all and through my own experiences as a mother I am able to relate to what they are going through.”

Winter spoke of a familiar impression that small-town hospitals have around the country and was quick to dismiss any misconceptions anyone may have.

“Unfortunately some people have the perception that small-town hospitals are not efficient enough to care for them at a high quality level but that impression is not correct. We do everything we can here and use all of our resources to ensure that the patient is in good hands.”

Winter was a lactation consultant in the past for many years through the La Leche League, which is an organization that assists breastfeeding mothers through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education.

She has also worked with Kingsville ISD through the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) by providing educational tools related to pregnancy and women’s health for teachers and counselors to implement in the classroom with their students.

“I would really like to do more of that in the future,” Winter said. “I would like to educate young girls about sexual health and help them realize that there is so much out there for them to aspire to do rather then be a young teen mother.”

Winter is excited for her new venture and would like to thank the office staff for making her feel welcome.

“Everyone here has been so encouraging and welcoming and I am eager and ready to get started,” Winter said.