Meet the Team

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Our Receptionists

Our amazing receptionists are the friendly faces you see first and the helpful voices on the phone. From the first hello to the final goodbye, they make every visit feel warm, personal, and stress-free!

Dianna Pedersen

With 25 years of experience in the veterinary field, Dianna began her career as a front desk receptionist and gradually transitioned into her current role as Office Manager. Over the years, she's worn many hats—coordinating financing options to helping clients get the care their pets need, handling billing and administrative tasks, and still stepping in at the front desk a few days a week to stay connected with clients and their pets. She also manages our vaccine reminder system to help keep our patients healthy and on schedule.

Outside of work, she enjoys a creative life making handmade cards and gifts, loves spending weekends camping with family and is an avid cat lover.

Doug Nuttelman

Doug Nuttelman joined the AAH team in 2017. He grew up on a Christmas tree farm south of Enterprise, KS. A graduate of Missouri State University with a BFA in musical theatre, he worked many years at Great Plains Theatre, before departing in 2015. Doug lived several years in New York City and spent time living on the central coast of California. In his free time, Doug paints and makes artwork - a few of his paintings can be seen around the clinic! Doug lives in a tiny house with his cat Hugo.

Alishah Hagerman

With a career in veterinary medicine beginning in 2019, Alishah brings years of client services experience and a deep passion for animal care. She holds a BS degree in Animal Science from Kansas State University which proves valuable when addressing animal-related questions. Known for keeping everyone on track—even on the most chaotic days—she thrives in fast-paced environments and takes pride in being a reliable, steady presence! Outside of work, she is happiest when spending time with her wonderful little family consisting of her 4 fur babies, her son Levi and husband Richard.

Our Doctors

Our veterinarians are passionate about helping animals live their best lives. They treat every patient like family, and it shows in everything they do!

Jon Gose

Dr. Jon Gose is a practicing veterinarian and part owner of Abilene Animal Hospital. His special interest is small animal orthopedic and soft tissue surgery and dentistry. He has received advanced training in orthopedic surgery and is certified to perform the TPLO (Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) and the CBLO (Cora Based Leveling Osteotomy) in order to repair cranial cruciate ligament injuries. He has training from the Colorado Pet Dental Training Center and the Animal Dental Training Center in Baltimore, MD in order to perform advanced oral surgery and dentistry.

Dr. Gose received his bachelor's degree in Biology from Kansas State University after serving for four years in the United Stated Marine Corps. He then graduated from KSU with his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 2003. He and his wife, Mitzi, returned to their wonderful hometown of Abilene to be close to family and to raise their three children, Keegun, Mika and Aiden.

Megan Potter

Megan L. Potter is currently a veterinary clinician and part owner at Abilene Animal Hospital, PA. She focuses on swine research and herd health management.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree as well as her doctorate of veterinary medicine from Purdue University. Dr. Potter earned her doctorate of philosophy degree from Kansas State University in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology with a research emphasis on porcine circovirus. After graduation, Dr. Potter joined Abilene Animal Hospital and has enjoyed working with the team since that time.

Dr. Potter is licensed in the states of Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, Kansas Pork Association, and American Society of Animal Science.

She enjoys her time away from the office with her furry friends at home and loves being outside and in the garden.

Becky Rankin

Becky J Rankin is a clinician in general practice and is part owner at Abilene Animal Hospital. She received her Bachelor of Animal Science degree as well as her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University. Becky has worked in rural mixed animal practice since graduating veterinary school in 2011. Dr. Rankin enjoys working with animals of all sizes and is happy to be back working in her hometown of Abilene, Kansas.
 
Dr. Rankin is licensed in the state of Kansas. She is currently a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. 

She enjoys running and spending time with her family.

Trevor Martin

Trevor A. Martin is a practicing veterinarian and part owner at Abilene Animal Hospital P.A. He specializes in swine population medicine. He also enjoys working with the local 4-H families with their showpig projects. Dr Martin attended Kansas State University for his Bachelor of Science degree. He followed with a DVM from Kansas State University in 2009. After graduation he practiced in northwest Iowa in a mixed animal practice working predominantly in swine before joining Abilene Animal Hospital in 2018. Dr. Martin is licensed in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians.
 
Dr. Martin loves small town life in Abilene with his wife Rachel, their son Cash, their daughter Molly, and their Brittany Spoodle, Bodee. In his time away from work Dr. Martin enjoys sports, hunting, fishing, and Nebraska football!

Taylor Crandall

Dr. Taylor Crandall is a veterinary clinician in general practice and part owner at Abilene Animal Hospital. She received her Associates of Science Degree from Cloud County Community College and her Bachelor of Animal Science Degree from Kansas State University. Dr. Crandall graduated from Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2018 and has since been a rural mixed animal practitioner. Dr. Crandall's main interest is working with small animals and is very passionate about internal medicine. 

In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband, Clayton, daughter, Reagan, and their numerous pets. Dr. Crandall also enjoys spending time outdoors and staying active!

Lisa Tokach

Lisa M. Tokach is a veterinary clinician in general practice at Abilene Animal Hospital, PA. She specializes in swine population medicine. Dr. Tokach is also the personnel director for AAHPA and is also serving as the President of Kansas Swine Alliance, Inc.
She received her doctorate at the University of Minnesota. In 2001, she was appointed as a diplomate in swine health management to the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners which was renewed in 2011.
Dr. Tokach is licensed in the states of Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. She is a member of the American Association of Swine Practitioners, American Veterinary Medical Association, Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, Kansas Pork Producers Council, Association of Psychological Type, and the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. In 2008, Dr. Tokach received the Swine Practitioner of the Year from the American Association of Swine Practitioners and in 2012 she was honored with the Leman Science in Practice Award. 

In her spare time, Dr. Tokach enjoys backpacking, beekeeping, horseback riding and working on solutions to solve world hunger.

Anna Hickert

Dr. Anna “Red” Hickert is a Hays native, mixed animal practitioner, and cooking enthusiast. She received her Bachelor’s of Veterinary Science from Kansas State University in 2018 and her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 2020. Dr. Red enjoys the variety and never ending challenges of providing care to both large and small animals. In her free time, Dr. Red enjoys trying new culinary techniques, restoring old furniture, spending time with friends and family and going on multi-state road trips with her partner, Steven, on their Indian Challenger motorcycle. Steven and Dr. Red have made it a goal to make it to 49 of the 50 states on the back of a motorcycle.

Anthony Hemman

Anthony Hemman is a mixed animal practitioner working at Abilene Animal Hospital. He is a native of Seneca KS and graduated from Benedictine College in 2019 with a bachelors in biology. He received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 2023. Anthony enjoys working with all species but takes a special interest in production animal species. Dr. Hemman is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American association of Bovine Practitioners, and the American association of Swine Veterinarians. Outside of veterinary medicine, he enjoys hiking and keeping up with his seven siblings.

Our Technicians

Our incredible veterinary technicians are the heart of our team! They work behind the scenes (and right up front!) to make sure every patient gets top-notch care.

Shelli Gugler RVT

Shelli Gugler joined the AAH staff in 1987 upon completion of her degree as a Veterinary Technican from Colby Community College. In addition to her laboratory and primary animal care responsibilities, Shelli is a surgical and anesthetic technician. She has received advanced training in canine semen analysis and frozen semen technology. She is a cat lover and avid photographer!

Kristin Remmenga

Kristin was born and raised Nebraskan who grew up loving all sorts of animals on her family farm. Kristin was active in 4-H showing cattle, horses, and meat goats. She graduated from Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in 2012 with an Associates Degree in Veterinary Technology. She came to us with over 4 years of experience as a veterinary technician. Cattle, llamas, and horses have a soft spot in Kristin's heart. She started here as our Large Animal Technician in 2017. Kristin and her family live on a funny farm near Talmage.

Emily Hafner RVT

Emily got her start in the veterinary field right here at AAH. She was a kennel attendant throughout her high school years and graduated from Colby Community College in 2016 with her Associates degree in Veterinary Technology. She later passed her national exam and registered with the state to obtain her license as a Registered Veterinary Technician. Emily spends most of her time performing dental cleanings, running anesthesia and assisting doctors in surgery. She has a special interest in Orthopedics and is part of our Orthopedic team here at AAH. She enjoys working with all small animals but Labradors have a special place in her heart.

Dawn Gabel

Dawn joined our staff in 2002 as a part-time kennel manager and quickly became a full-time asset to our hospital team. Dawn is an important part of our companion animal team as she provides pre-operative, surgical and anesthetic assistance along with post-surgical care of our patients. She is a big dog lover and avid mushroom hunter!

Kathleen Hand

Kathleen was born and raised in Abilene, Kansas. She graduated from Abilene high school in 2015. She went to Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas and graduated in May 2019 with an associates degree in applied science for veterinary nursing. In November 2022 she finally landed her dream job here at Abilene Animal Hospital as a veterinary technician! Kathleen has always had a passion for animals. She has three dogs, Maggie and Noelle who are lab mixes and Brynlee, her pitty mix. She has four cats, Nins, Aiden, Colby, and Sapphire. She also has two chinchillas named Tillie and Billie, as well as a corn snake named Kasper. Last but not least, she has a 55 gallon tank full of different varieties of fish!

Mercedes Moody RVT

Mercedes joined the Abilene Animal Hospital team in 2021, bringing with her over eight years of experience as an assistant, office manager, and technician working with both large and small animals. Although she was born in Kansas, Mercedes spent most of her life in California before eventually returning to Clay Center.

In 2018, Mercedes earned her Associate degree in Veterinary Technology through Colby Community College’s Distance Learning Program. She successfully passed the national board exam and is a licensed Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) in the state of Kansas.

From the time she was just three years old, Mercedes knew she wanted to work with animals—and today, she’s living that dream. She has a special love for cats and is a certified Cat Friendly Veterinary Professional, dedicated to making feline visits as stress-free as possible. In addition to her veterinary skills, Mercedes is also the creative mind behind our website.

Outside of work, she enjoys reading and playing PC games in her free time.

Our Worker Bees

Our behind-the-scenes worker bees keep the hospital running smoothly! From inventory management to cleaning and lab work, they’re the busy bees making sure everything’s ready to go when we need it most!

AJ Jones

AJ earned a BS in Biology from Kansas State University with skills in laboratory diagnostic procedures. She is the primary receptionist for the swine department, and manages our in-house laboratory. She is knowledgeable in all areas of animal export and interstate movement of animals. Her hobbies include wildlife rehabilitation and dog training.

Heather Bohannan

Heather is a hometown girl from right here in Abilene, Kansas. Heather has over 20 years of experience working in an office setting.

In August of 2021, Heather joined the Abilene Animal Hospital team where she manages the Abilene VetMeds program along with other duties as needed including inventory and accounting. Heather loves helping clients, keeping them supplied with all their animal health needs.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time hunting with her husband and son, being outdoors, gardening, and doing crafts. Heather enjoys helping her family work cattle. Labradors are Heather’s favorite dog, especially of the chocolate variety like her current pet Rowdy.

Ryan Spillman

Ryan was brought on to the team in 2022 as a kennel attendant and is now being trained part-time as a veterinary assistant. She's always had a love for animals and is very excited to learn all she can to help them.

She enjoys reading and spending time with her feathered companion, Daiquiri, as well as her close family and friends.

The Boss

Wiggles keeps us all in line—mostly by demanding snacks and setting the gold standard for epic naps. If you think he looks busy, just wait until you see him expertly ignore us while we work!  We couldn't do what we do without Wiggles!

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