FRONT ROYAL FAMILY PRACTICE - Key Persons
Bio: Dr. Johns graduated from Duke University's school of medicine and is a board-certified family doctor who does everything from obstetrics to end-of-life care. Additionally, Dr. Johns has a subspecialty in health informatics and works as a health IT data scientist/engineer for health systems such as Duke and Valley Health. He has built applications for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, CCRi and North Carolina Medicaid Services (aka. CCNC). He has greater than 15 years of java/scala and .Net application development experience. His doctorate is in medicine, but he also has degrees in chemical engineering (UMCP) and computer/information science (UNC). Dr. Johns trained as a IRTA fellow in the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (LKEM) as well as Duke Medicine's Informatics Division (NLM). He completed his residency at VCU's Shenandoah Valley Family Practice Program. His special interests are sports medicine, home-automation/IOT, analytics/data-science, cycling, 3D printing, and outdoor family activities. He is the father of 4 energy-filled children and the husband of the smartest, most beautiful woman ever.
Dr. Dennehy practiced for four years in the Air Force, and for almost a decade in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania. He came to the Front Royal in 2003, to begin full-time teaching in Family Medicine. In 2010, he was named the Family Medicine Teacher of the Year by the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians. He and his wife, Kristin, are the parents of four children, and they both enjoy the outdoors, good books, and Church activities.
Dr. Kerns has been with Front Royal Family Practice since its inception. He enjoys developing relationships with patients and their families over several generations, making the hard work of comprehensive family medicine incredibly rewarding. Teaching and research have been interests since his undergraduate time at Yale. When not working, he enjoys time with his wife Christine, as well as with their daughters and grandchildren. His dogs keep him moving (they insist), and relaxation can be found in aging spirits in small casks, and enjoying what others have aged, particularly single-malts.
Dr. Groesbeck grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. Prior to medical school Dr. Groesbeck was a certified massage therapist. It was during massage school that he recognized a talent for, and belief in a hands-on approach to diagnosis and healing. He then attended the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine before completing Family Practice residency in Cleveland, OH. After residency, Dr. Groesbeck completed a fellowship in Neuromusculoskeletal/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine which provided further training in inpatient and outpatient OMT on a diverse range of patients with acute and chronic, complex problems. Dr. Groesbeck uses trigger point injections, joint injections, prolotherapy and kinesiotaping in addition to OMT to help heal his patients. He takes a holistic approach to care for every patient. He enjoys providing care for patients of all ages. Prior to joining the residency program Dr. Groesbeck practiced in a rural community health center in Elkton, VA.
Dr. Groesbeck and his wife have four daughters and a son. They enjoy time outside and singing together and are actively involved in their church community. Among Dr. Groesbeck's favorite outdoor activities and exercises are running, yoga and disc golf. He enjoys baking breads and pizza and crafting original ice cream flavors. He also loves music and plays the piano, organ, guitar, harmonica and sings.
Dr. Barron grew up in Northern Virginia and went to undergrad at Bridgewater College. She returned the the Shenandoah Valley when she joined the practice in 1999 right out of residency training. She serves on the Warren Memorial Hospital Board. She and her husband have a son and daughter. For leisure, she enjoys sewing, photography, and cake decorating.
Personal: Hey all! My name is John and I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I completed my undergraduate degree at Washington & Jefferson College where I majored in psychology. Following college, I moved up to Lake Erie where I attended the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. I chose to pursue a career in family medicine because I enjoy the broad spectrum of practice as well as the continuity of care it offers. My hobbies include hiking, fishing, music, and cooking for my wife (or at least trying to).
Dr. Winter is married with two children and enjoys being outdoors in his spare time.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Orange Team
Personal: Dr. LaFave grew up in Asheville, North Carolina and later moved to New Orleans, LA to play Division I collegiate golf at Tulane University, where she met her husband. They later moved to the area and after 3 years of residency training in Front Royal, VA she fell in love with the Shenandoah Valley.
She is passionate about preventative health, skin and colon cancer screening and empowering her patients to make educated decisions about their health in order to live their best lives.
In her free time, she enjoys spoiling her rescue dogs and rescued cockatiel, and volunteers transporting rescued animals along I-81. She also enjoys the outdoors, local farmers markets and playing and watching sports.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Orange Team
Personal: Dr. Spriggs and her husband have been in the Shenandoah Valley since 2007, happily raising two sons. Dr. Spriggs has wanted to practice family medicine since age 12. She enjoys seeing patients from birth to age 106. She loves to bake cakes and pastries. Her focus is on children and women, and chronic disease management.
Dr. Ball was pleased to return to Virginia in 2001 to join FRFP after several years practice in central South Carolina. He strives to provide comprehensive family medical care. A former High School teacher, Dr. Ball emphasizes teaching patients to understand both disease and wellness. He and his wife, Christy Hartman, met in Front Royal. They have enjoyed becoming part of the community and renovating a small farmhouse in Browntown. When not in the office, Dr. Ball can often be found pedaling his bicycle along country roads or hiking with his dogs in the Shenandoah National Park.