LeAnn Thiele Rhinehart, Family Nurse Practitioner, joined Cancer Care Specialists of Central Illinois, S.C., on August 1, 2011. She will primarily see patients at our main office at the Cancer Care Center of Decatur and provide services in coordination with Drs. James Wade III, Benjamin Esparaz, Perry Guaglianone, Mario Velasco, Dolores Estrada-Garcia, and Maria Grosse Perdekamp.

Rhinehart obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mennonite College of Nursing in Bloomington in 1989, where she received the Dr. Tiedeman Memorial Award for Excellence in Nursing. She went on to earn a Masters of Science in Nursing with an emphasis as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the Mennonite College of Nursing at Illinois State University in Normal in 2011.

Rhinehart is certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. As a Family Nurse Practitioner at Cancer Care Specialists, Rhinehart can provide more services than a Registered Nurse, but not as much as a Doctor. She will assess patient needs, provide health exams, order diagnostic tests (such as x-rays, CT/PET scans, and laboratory tests), oversee administration of patient treatments, and confers with CCSCI doctors regarding patient care.

Rhinehart holds membership in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, American Nurses Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology (eligible), and Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. She has experience as a special procedures nurse in interventional radiology as well as dialysis and intensive care nursing. In addition, she continues to participate in a variety of community volunteer programs.