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John Grace, M.D.

        Dr. Grace completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana graduating Magna Cum Laude with dual degrees in Biology and Psychology.  From there, he went on to Southern Illinois University to complete his Master's Course work in History.  He continued at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine for his Doctorate of Medicine before going to the University of South Florida in Tampa for his residency in general psychiatry. 

   

        Throughout his academic career, Dr. Grace has been involved in the field of mental health.  While attending the University of Illinois, he worked in a long-term care facility for the mentally ill.  In addition, he worked as a resident advisor for the University.  In medical school, he worked for the Springfield Community Mental Health Center, performing emergency psychiatric evaluations for the hospital and outpatient evaluations for the center.  While in residency, he worked for the Bay Pines Veteran's Hospital in Clearwater as the psychiatrist on-call.  He also worked for James Halley Veteran's Hospital, consulting on psychiatric compensation and pension evaluations. In 1999, Dr. Grace won the prestigious Rock Sleyster Award from the AMA for the top medical students entering psychiatry in the nation.  In 2002 he served as one of 12 Glaxo Smith Kline Fellows in the country.

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     Dr. Grace has been in private practice in Crystal River Florida since July 2004 and is Board Certified in General Psychiatry.  He hosted a weekly radio show in Ocala Florida from 2006-2007, Sound Thinking with Dr. John Grace. He has served on clinical faculty at the University of South Florida Department of Psychiatry and Lincoln Memorial University Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine teaching psychiatric residents, medical students, and physician assistants regarding mental illness. Dr. Grace has served as a past president of the Citrus County Medical Society as well as the  medical director of the Memory Enhancement Center of America, a non for profit organization focusing on bringing state of the art memory care to a rural setting,  He has also served as Board Member of the Florida Wellcare Alliance, (the largest private physician organization in Citrus County), the National Alliance of Mentally Ill (NAMI) Citrus County Chapter, and the Citrus County Charitable Foundation.   Since 2021, he has served our county's veterans as the team lead of the Veteran Administration Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) Mental Health Services.  

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     In addition, he continues to publish academic and personal literature in various publications (see link below)​ and is currently at work on his fourth book,  Empowerment Through Poker. 

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Dr. Grace's ï»¿â€‹ Published Work(Click Here to View)
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Lauren Starnes, PA-C

Lauren Starnes is a certified Physician Assistant (PA-C). She joined our practice in February of 2015. She was born and raised in Memphis, TN, where she also attended undergrad at The University of Memphis graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She worked in pediatrics for 2 years as a clinical assistant and was a volunteer at LeBonheur Children's Hospital before attending PA school. It was during her PA school education and rotations that Lauren became passionate about psychiatric medicine. Lauren is a graduate of Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, TN, with a Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies. She also enjoys teaching students on their psychiatric rotation and works with Lincoln Memorial University's PA Program as the Clinical Director of Student Medical Education for the Nature Coast Region. Lauren has not only been seeing patient in our clinic for years but also has worked in the partial hospitalization program (PHP) helping acutely ill patients and provides individual counseling as well.

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Lauren is a lifelong believer in the individual's capacity for self-healing and personal growth.  Having faced her own journey of resilience, she knows first-hand the many benefits of coaching and accessible resources for all who seek to grow beyond perceived limitations and return to a balanced state of self. Connection to another can lead you on the healing path of resilience further than going it alone.

 

After 8 years in psychiatry, I plan to transition away from practicing medicine as of January 1st, 2024. My focus will be on natural mental health offerings as an alternative to prescription treatments. I established my own business Resilient Healer, LLC IN 2021. Services include 1:1 hourly sessions, group facilitation and online courses. I am offering a variety of options in order to serve the unique needs of each individual. 

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Visit my website:
www.resilient-healer.com

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Add your email address to the mailing list at the bottom of that page, if you’d like to keep in touch and be updated on new offerings as they take shape over the next year.

Lisa Nalepa, Practice Manager

My employment with John W. Grace, M.D, P.A. began in June, 2009. I began working from home in marketing and came on board in the office March 2011 as Practice Manager.  I have three children, a loving husband and 3 beautiful grand babies. My hobbies include traveling, boating and spending time with my family.

Lisa Charette, LPN

Lisa was born and raised in Crystal River, FL. She is married with 2 children and has been a nurse since 2002. She has experience in the home health, hospital and rehab settings and was the administrator of assisted living facility for 8 years. Lisa has previously worked in marketing as well. She has been working with Dr. Grace as the head nurse since 2013.

Rhonda Jent, CNA

Rhonda joined the office in 2019 and she is currently working to collect copays and answer questions with billing. 

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