Primary Care Doctor at The Christ Hospital Health Network Named Family Physician of the Year

The OAFP annually presents the Family Physician of the Year Award to an individual who meets and exceeds the criteria of being an outstanding family physician. Other criteria include maintaining high professional standards and service orientations, providing high quality and family-centered continuing healthcare and being active in their community.

Dr. Kohls is a board-certified family physician practicing at the largest primary care group in The Christ Hospital Health Network. Her areas of professional interest include preventive and comprehensive care focused on quality, as well as cardiovascular risk factor reduction, lifestyle medicine, diabetes and geriatrics.

“I’m the first and only physician in my family,” said Dr. Kohls. “Growing up, I had little exposure to medicine, but I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a physician.”

She earned her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at Northwestern University at St. Joseph in Chicago, where she served as chief resident.

“As I rotated through the various specialties in medical school, I fell in love with the complexity of the cases and the continuity of care I experienced in the fields of internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and psychiatry,” explained Dr. Kohls. “The family medicine rotation followed, and seemed like a perfect fit since it would allow me to treat patients from all of the above fields in a single day’s work.”

After Dr. Kohls completed her medical training, she spent several years practicing in the Chicago area and teaching at the Northwestern University School of Medicine. She then returned to Cincinnati to be near family and practice in her hometown on the West Side.

“My practice is full of multiple generations within a single family,” said Dr. Kohls. “To me, this is what it means to be a family physician.”

Dr. Kohls was recognized as “Top Doctor” by Cincinnati Magazine from 2014-2022 and is involved within her health system and community, serving on The Christ Hospital Precision Medicine Committee and as a physician volunteer for the Good Samaritan Free Health Center.

Award nominator, Joseph Hazen, MD, explained, “Dr. Kohls’ efforts are unflagging, constant, and reliable. She is incredibly dependable to always practice the highest quality care with attention to every detail.”

Dr. Kohls lives in Cincinnati with her husband Tony and son Louie. When she is not seeing patients, Dr. Kohls enjoys spending time with family and exercising outdoors, as well as traveling, cooking, gardening and playing bocce ball.

“This year marks my 30th year as a practicing family physician,” said Dr. Kohls. “I strive to provide meticulous, personalized, high quality and evidence-based care to every patient that I see. I have found great personal fulfillment as a family physician over the past three decades. It’s a privilege that I don’t take lightly. I’m grateful to the OAFP for the work they do to advocate for our specialty and I am truly honored to be recognized as the 2024 Family Physician of the Year.”

The OAFP and The Christ Hospital Health Network congratulates Dr. Kohls for this honor and thanks her for exemplifying the best qualities of Ohio’s family physicians and doing everything it takes for her patients.

To learn more about the Family Physician of the Year award, please visit the OAFP website.

About The Christ Hospital Health Network

The Christ Hospital Health Network consists of an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn, a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers and dozens of medical offices throughout the region. For more than 130 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves. Made up for more than 1,300 physicians and more than 6,500 team members, our mission is to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional outcomes in an affordable way. The Network was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals list in 2024. It is also a Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award recipient, which recognizes top-performing healthcare organizations that achieve the 95th percentile or above of performance in patient experience.

About The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians

The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians is a statewide, professional association with nearly 5,000 members, including practicing physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, and every disease entity. Family physicians provide comprehensive, continuing care to all members of the family. For more information, visit the OAFP website.