Dr. Hannah Gillespie Returns to Serve Northwest Kansas
October 7, 2025
When Dr. Hannah Gillespie walks the halls of Citizen’s Medical Center in Colby, she carries with her more than a medical degree and a stethoscope — she carries the roots of Northwest Kansas. A Grainfield native, farm kid, and the daughter of a nurse, Gillespie has returned home to care for the very communities that helped shape her.
“I grew up in a village that raised me,” Gillespie said, reflecting on her journey back to the High Plains. “This is my way of giving back to that same kind of community.”
Gillespie grew up on her parents’ farm in Gove County, where healthcare wasn’t just a profession — it was part of the family identity. “My mom is a nurse, my sister’s a nurse, and I have multiple aunts and cousins in health care,” she said with a laugh. “I used to joke that the Gove County EMS was basically the Gillespie family.”
Her first taste of medicine came as a teenager working as a certified nurse aide at the Quinter nursing home. Long before she ever put on a white coat, Gillespie was learning the patience, compassion, and grit required to care for people in rural settings.
After completing her undergraduate degree at Kansas State University, Gillespie entered the University of Kansas School of Medicine determined to prepare for the realities of rural practice. “From the very beginning, I wanted to come back to a place like Grainfield or Colby,” she said. “That meant I needed training that covered the full spectrum of medicine.”
Her residency at Via Christi Family Medicine in Wichita gave her exactly that — especially in obstetrics. The program is nationally known for training doctors in maternal care, and Gillespie seized every opportunity to gain the experience that rural communities desperately need.
That focus on obstetrics is especially significant for Northwest Kansas, where access to labor and delivery services has been shrinking for decades. Many hospitals across the Plains have closed their OB units, leaving mothers to drive hours — sometimes across state lines — just to safely deliver a baby.
“Colby is the only hospital on I-70 between Hays and Denver that intentionally delivers babies,” Gillespie explained. “That’s a long stretch of highway. Families shouldn’t have to travel that far for something so essential.”
By joining Citizen’s Medical Center, Gillespie strengthens a team that is committed to keeping those services alive. She now works alongside Dr. Newell, a fellow Via Christi graduate, and five other providers who continue to provide prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care in Colby.
Gillespie’s passion for medicine isn’t limited to obstetrics. “People sometimes ask why I didn’t just become an OB-GYN,” she said. “It’s because I love the full spectrum of family medicine. I love my old farmers, I love preventative care, caring for sick patients in the hospital, and even having those tough end-of-life conversations. From the beginning of life to its end, I see value in being there for patients at every stage.”
In many ways, that philosophy reflects the reality of rural healthcare. A family doctor in Colby isn’t just a clinic physician — they’re also a hospitalist, a labor doctor, an emergency responder, and sometimes even a counselor. It’s a role that demands versatility, and Gillespie embraces it wholeheartedly.
This summer, Gillespie and her fiancé, Conner, bought a home in Colby. The two plan to marry locally in April. For now, Conner is helping with harvest on her family’s farm while establishing his own career in the area. “Coming back wasn’t just about my job,” Gillespie said. “It was about building our life here.”
Her parents, Mitch and Carlene, remain her greatest champions. “I wish everybody had someone in their lives who believed in them the way my parents have believed in me,” Gillespie said. “They’ve always supported me, no matter how difficult the path.”
In a region where small-town hospitals often fight to keep their doors open, the addition of a young physician with strong obstetrics training is more than a hiring decision — it’s a victory for families across Northwest Kansas. From Colby to Quinter, Oakley to Sharon Springs, Gillespie’s presence ensures that mothers, farmers, children, and grandparents alike have a local doctor ready to care for them.
“Northwest Kansas gave me my start,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to give back.”
Dr. Gillespie is now accepting new patients at Citizen’s Medical Center in Colby, where she looks forward to building relationships that span not just years, but generations.