Our Team

Melissa Hill

MSN, APRN, FNP-BC

Melissa Hill is a self-motivated, hard-working registered nurse who is Master’s- prepared with a specialization in Family Nurse Practice. Ms. Hill is ANCC board certified. Offering 30 years of traditional long-term care as well as transitional care unit nursing experience, both hands on and administrative in nature. Melissa has excellent communication skills and a proven track record of achieving and exceeding performance goals. Melissa is a wonderful nurse practitioner who takes time to listen to her patients and families. She is caring, kind, and intelligent. Melissa enjoys spending time with her family and friends, as well as traveling.

Tom McNiff

MD

Dr. Tom McNiff has over 38 years of medical experience. He has worked as an emergency medicine, urgent care, and primary care provider. He has a wealth of knowledge and information. Dr. McNiff has worked all over the world, including Sri Lanka when he cared for victims of the Tsunami. He is board certified in Family Practice. Dr. McNiff truly listens to his clients. He focuses on ensuring each patient understands their care plan and supports their goals. Dr. McNiff enjoys the great outdoors.


Ibrahim Mujir

MD

Dr. Ibrahim Mujir has nearly 4 decades of experience in geriatrics. He enjoys the challenge of working with patients who have complex medical problems and strives to make the aging experience as smooth as possible for his patients.  Dr. Mujir is married and has 3 children and it is very important for him to spend time with his family outside of work.  Additionally, he enjoys reading and woodworking.  His woodworking projects focus on Arabic calligraphy and he donates his work to several mosques throughout the Twin Cities area.  

 

Judy Pauletich

MSN, APRN, AGNP-BC

Judy is a native of Minnesota, with over 30 years of experience in the medical field. She is a graduate of Walden University of Minneapolis. This is where she received her Masters of Science degree in Nursing. Judy chose to specialize in Adult/Geriatric Care. This includes the care of the elderly with an emphasis on dementia and behavioral health management. 

She has a true passion for older adults and their healthcare needs. Judy loves to travel with her family and friends. She also enjoys cooking and baking 

Tiffany Radke

MSN, APRN, AGACNP-BC

Tiffany attended Illinois Wesleyan University for her undergraduate degree in nursing and University of Illinois Chicago for her advanced degree, where she also completed a fellowship in acute care. She is a certified Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. 

Tiffany has extensive experience working in a variety of settings, including both hospital and community. Tiffany is also board certified in wound care and loves to heal others as a wound care consultant. Another past time includes reading medical journals and keeping up to date on evidence.

Tiffany enjoys coffee, running and spending time with her three children. She looks forward to working with you!

Nicole Siddons

DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Dr. Siddons is a graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Nursing in both the Family Nurse Practitioner and Health Innovation & Leadership doctoral tracks. There she also received a certificate for Healthcare Design. She currently works in urgent care, long-term care, transitional care units and also assisted living. 

Dr. Siddons is passionate about patient safety and quality, which has lead her to be involved in the University of Minnesota’s Regional Training Center for TeamSTEPPS. She remains actively engaged in improving the health of patients through partnership and collaboration.

She loves spending time with her family and friends in the great outdoors and traveling.


Kate Babcock

Systems Navigator

Kate’s career began in the telecommunications industry in both HR & billing, protecting organizations from internal fraud and securing billing systems.  She took a detour by volunteering and working in an elementary school for the past several years.  She is excited to return to her systems roots with Northern Lights Health and looks forward to evolving in her career while still meeting her family needs!  Kate values her family time most of all by spending it with her husband, daughter, son, and two dogs. 

Lisa Callais

Care Navigator

Lisa has joined the Northern Lights Health team as a Care Navigator. She will be working with Nikki Siddons and with the patients at Woodlyn Heights and Highland Chateau. The teams there are very excited to have her support and knowledge! Lisa is an LPN with a strong background in long-term care. Lisa has been a traveling nurse for the past year and a half. Before that she worked as a nurse manager. She has a wealth of experience in long term care communities and has worked in various positions in centers across the metro area. She loves spending time with her granddaughter and loves Florida!
CDickenson Photo


Chelsie Dickenson

Care Navigator

Chelsie’s love for working with the elderly began in 2013 as a CNA. She wanted to advance her role so she worked to become an LPN in 2017.  Chelsie feels very fortunate to enjoy this passion by working with older people. She loves to have podcasts playing in the background and outside of work she enjoys reading, cooking, fishing, and spending time on Lake Kabetogama.  Basically, anything she can do with her daughter, husband, and spunky goldendoodle named Harlow.  Chelsie is excited to support the Northern Lights Health team working with patients at Guardian Angels.


Holly Drag

Care Navigator

Holly is a Registered Nurse (RN) with 8 years of experience in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.  Her entire career has been in the hospital setting so she is excited for the change that Northern Lights Health has to offer!  She will be primarily working with our team providing care to patients at Trillium Woods. Holly is passionate about being a wife and a mother.  Additionally, she likes to crochet, cook, and spend time with her friends and family.  



Julie Johnson

Julie Johnson

Systems Navigator

Julie has a varied professional background to include travel, education, healthcare, and a small food business entrepreneur. Her most recent professional experience included a 7-year tenure as a continuing education specialist for an eLearning company dedicated to the long-term care industry. Her primary responsibility was helping her team ensure the organization met all accreditation criteria through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

She has been married to her hilarious husband, Chris, for over 19 years and she is passionate about raising her triplet boys! Since her husband maintains a vigorous business travel schedule, she jokingly refers to herself as the Chief Household Officer (CHO).

In her spare time, Julie enjoys the outdoors, fitness and wellness, cooking, reading, traveling, gardening, volunteering, and spending time with her closest friends and family.


Bianca Moore

Care Navigator

Bianca is a graduate from Metropolitan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Services.  She was drawn to Northern Lights Health because she is passionate about helping people and connecting others to resources during times of need.  She has worked in Human Services for 8 years and will now assist our team in serving patients at New Brighton Care Center.  Bianca enjoys listening to music and using her free time to shop with her two daughters at Target.  

 


Kelly Payette

Systems Navigator

Kelly has worked in various industries as a project manager in Minnesota, Boston, and Salt Lake City.  She returned to Minnesota in 2004 to be closer to family.  Kelly and her husband have a son who lives nearby and a daughter who lives in Salt Lake City, UT. She is enjoying her “empty nester” life and loves to travel, venture out on her E-bike, and spend time with family and friends. Kelly is excited to be part of a team that helps deliver medical services to patients across Minnesota!

 


Angie Schuch

Care Navigator

Angie joined Northern Lights Health with a strong customer service background.  Most notably, she was a veterinary technician for over 15 years.  She was excited to join our team in order to utilize her strong customer service skills in a different capacity while serving patients in multiple facilities in Austin, MN!  Angie is a proud mom of twins – one boy/one girl and is definitely a pet enthusiast with cats and a small dog for pets.  Her hobbies include hiking or spending time outdoors, movies, and music.  She is native to St. Paul, MN.

 


Christine Starland

Care Navigator

Christine is a Registered Nurse with varied professional experiences including work in nursing homes, pediatrics, and triage.  She has the best of both worlds by working as a care navigator with Northern Lights Health and as a part-time preschool teacher.  This allows her to work with both children and older adults; two populations in which she really enjoys!  Outside of work, Christine dedicates her time to her 3 children while also enjoying gardening, reading, camping, playing the piano and being outside with her family.

 

Erin Vacek

Systems Navigator

Erin Vacek is a Systems Navigator. She is an expert in all things systems based including our registration, insurance, and office operations systems. In addition to working for Northern Lights Health, Erin also works at the Waconia school district as a Special Education Paraprofessional. She enjoys spending her free time watching her children participate in activities. Erin also loves boating, golfing, reading, traveling, and walking her dog Rudy.


RJ Whyte

Care Navigator

RJ has 35 years of cumulative work experience in healthcare.  During this tenure, she has achieved EMT, TMA, CNA, and CMA certifications. Currently, she works with patients at Bayview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Red Wing and Elysian Senior Homes of Lake City.   She is extremely dedicated to her work and is a pleasure to have on the Northern Lights Health team!  In her spare time, she loves photography with an emphasis on wildlife and scenery.  

 

 


Chynna Yang

Care Navigator

Chynna joined Northern Lights Health in 2023.  Although she started her career in healthcare as a nursing assistant for 3 years, she took a break and diverted to education as a Special Education Paraprofessional working with students who have Autism and other emotional behavioral needs.  She is excited to return to healthcare as part of the Northern Lights team and looks forward to working with our patients!  In her spare time, Chynna loves swimming, camping, spending time with her family, trying new restaurants, and riding ORVs.

 

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