Doctors and Leadership Team

Dr. Keith Kramer

Dr. Keith Kramer grew up on his family's farm in Iowa. He learned early on that business success takes a lot of hard work, when at the tender age of four he started helping with the chores. Throughout his youth, he rose before dawn each day and took hard work seriously, and today he remains an early riser and tenacious in getting things done.

He also credits his independent spirit to growing up on the farm. He thrived on being held personally accountable for finishing his chores. It also made him understand how fulfilling owning a family business can be, so it was only a matter of time, education and a clear purpose before he set out on his own.

While attending Iowa State University, where he met his wife, Penny, Dr. Kramer saw firsthand how chiropractic care helped people to feel better. With that, he had discovered his career path and continued on to Palmer College of Chiropractic, earning his Doctor of Chiropractic degree.

Following his graduation, the Kramers moved to Peoria after Dr. Kramer received an offer to join a highly respected chiropractic group here. In 2002, he left the group to open his own practice, Kramer Chiropractic. (Penny also joined him in the family business.)

While growing the practice, Dr. Kramer continued to focus on what he could do to help others Live Life Well. He kept learning everything he could about the healing power of holistic and natural medicines and techniques, which led to adding health and healing guest services, from acupuncture and massage therapies to nutritional counseling and physical therapy. That meant further growth, including added staff and the need to build the spacious Senara facility in 2011, which is when the business transitioned from operating under the Kramer name to Senara.

Dr. Kramer is as passionate about living a healthy lifestyle as he is about spreading the message of how to Live Life Well to others. "Working out is my meditation, and eating right fuels my body, and I feel great," he said. "I want that for everyone. That's why it is so fulfilling for me to see that what we do at Senara makes a difference in the quality of our guests' lives." 

The Kramers' daughter, Grace, was born in 2002. The family spends their spare time together working out, reading and traveling. Dr. Kramer likes to golf, and he and Grace also enjoy learning to play guitar together. 

Penny Kramer

Senara co-founder and CEO, Penny Kramer, is filled with energy that never stops. She also has an innate curiosity to learn new things and a strong will to take on tough challenges. The tougher the challenge, the more Penny thrives.

Penny brings every ounce of her endless energy and enthusiasm, and her extraordinary multi-tasking skills to her role as CEO of Senara. "Keith's job is to take care of our guests' health," said Penny. "To focus on that, he needs to know that everything else is taken care of - and that's my job." Penny's strengths are people and systems. She sees all the pieces of the puzzle, and then puts them together. That means she's in charge of everything from human resources and training to marketing and the technology Senara uses.

She also understands how important it is to get out from behind the desk, and Penny can be seen literally everywhere at Senara. She especially enjoys greeting guests to make them feel at home, just as she did when the first Kramer Chiropractic office opened in 2002. Back then, when she joined Dr. Kramer in the family business, Penny said goodbye to a promising marketing career without any regrets.

"I'm here because I share Keith's passion for spreading the message about how to live a healthy lifestyle," said Penny, who also had primary responsibility for overseeing the Senara building's construction. "It means so much to us both - knowing that what we do can make a difference in the quality of someone's life. And that's really why we built Senara. It gives us the space and the ideal environment to offer different services that help our guests "Live Life Well."

The Kramers met at Iowa State University, their alma mater, and they married in 1995. After Dr. Kramer graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic, the couple moved to embrace Peoria as their new home.

Their daughter, Grace, has been the center and light in their life since her birth in 2002. The Kramer family spends their spare time together and enjoys working out, reading and traveling. Penny and Grace also love to bake, do art projects and decorate together. In addition, Penny offers her time and expertise to several professional organizations, including holding various leadership positions with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and Central Illinois Tee It Up For the Troops.

Dr. Gina Kurtz

Dr. Gina Kurtz has known the power of chiropractic care to heal and restore health from an early age. At just 13, she began suffering from frequent and debilitating migraines at least once a month. Doctors offered what they called a solution, blood pressure medication for the rest of her life. They also gave a stern warning that missing even one dose of the medicine could kill her.

She was young, yes, but she was also wise. Dr. Kurtz refused the prescription, because she knew there was a good chance she would miss a dose at some point in her life. She suffered through her migraines for the next nine years, until her sister married a chiropractor. Her brother-in-law began adjusting Dr. Kurtz's neck on a regular basis and her migraines all but disappeared.

Dr. Kurtz was so impressed that she decided to become a chiropractor to give others the kind of relief from pain and suffering that chiropractic care had given her. After graduating from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1996, she started her professional career in Yorkville, Illinois, where she practiced for 11 years. In 2007, when her husband, Jeff, was transferred by Caterpillar to Peoria, she joined Dr. Kramer here.

She enjoys helping Senara's guests and is extremely proud of the service and care each member of the Senara staff delivers. In her own words: "Our guests receive the best care, in a warm and loving environment that makes everyone feel at home. We are all friendly, caring people who are experts in the field of health and healing, and we all truly love what we do. Honestly, we look forward to making each guest's experience at Senara the best ever for them."

She and Jeff have three children, Olivia, Tanner and Kevin. Dr. Kurtz enjoys gardening, interior decorating and capturing memories through scrap booking. As a family, they like watching Olivia play volleyball, Tanner play football and Kevin bowl. They also enjoy traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Dr. Jeffrey Poulter

Dr. Poulter joined the class of '85 at SIU School of Medicine where he met his future wife Julie on a blind date. Attending medical school year-round for four years helped him find his calling in medicine by first narrowing his specialty to the field of surgery, then research and extended electives leading to plastic surgery.

"Seeing patients made whole with reconstructive surgery, and the incredible return of self-esteem in the cosmetic patients helped drive me to complete a 5-year general surgery residency and a 2-year plastic surgery fellowship," says Dr. Poulter. He obtained board certification in both general and plastic surgery.

Dr. Poulter's patients will benefit from the many services the complete wellness journey Senara provides.  Preoperative patients can take advantage of personal training and nutrition counseling to reach their goal weight prior to body contouring. They can reduce swelling and discomfort with soothing massage therapy. Botox and Juvederm patients can relax in a quiet lounge as topical anesthetic takes effect prior to treatment.  They'll get special attention from estheticians who reapply makeup prior to their departure.  "Now you can get services from skin care to surgical enhancements to look your very best, all in one incredible place," says Dr. Poulter.

Martha Brown
Director of Patient Relations

In 1995, Martha earned her Master's of Science in Audiology from Illinois State University. She worked as a Speech Pathologist and Audiologist for several years. In 2006, she met Senara co-founder Penny Kramer. Penny was so impressed with Martha's people skills and personality that she asked Martha to join the Senara team to cover the front desk to greet guests and make each one feel welcome, and special.

Martha admits that she was hesitant at first to take the position; because it was so different than the career path she had studied for and planned to keep following. Today, she can't imagine being anywhere other than Senara. She thrives on the daily interaction with guests. "Guests are like family here. What a great feeling it is to see people come in hurting, and then watching them leave feeling so much better, they're smiling, and in such a good mood."

She also appreciates and enjoys the work environment and business culture that Senara has established for all team members. "There's a positive energy that flows all day, every day here, and I just love being a part of it. We receive constant reinforcement that we can do anything in life if we set goals and put our mind toward achieving them."

Martha and her husband, Cory, enjoy traveling together, and spending their time away from work with family and friends. They also do volunteer work. She is an avid reader and is in the process of writing a self-help book. Martha is also taking her people skills to a new level by studying to become a certified personal life coach.

Kirsten Hedden
Director of Yoga

Kirsten Hedden is our Director of Yoga. Kirsten was inspired to join the Senara staff during a Girls Night In event in which the Kramers shared a vision of living life well not only by being healthy, but a focus on being happy and supported with a community of wellness seekers. As she likes to say, “I bought in, hook, line, and sinker.”

Kirsten has over 600 hours of yoga teacher training. Her teaching journey began in spring of 2008, when she went to Yandara Yoga Institute near Todos Santos, Mexico for a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (her first 200 hours!). With a never-ending thirst for knowledge, Kirsten went on to study with world-renowned teacher Shiva Rea and has had several teacher training sessions with Master Teacher, Aadil Palkhivala. In 2010, Kirsten also graduated from the Moksha Teacher Training program with another 200-hour certificate. Additionally, Kirsten is an active blogger for the YogiTunes website where she writes about music and yoga.

“I’ll never stop being a student. Yoga has given me such a clear perspective on my life and on how to live fully that I have a burning need to share that with others. You can’t know some terrific secret about living life well and keep that to yourself! It has to be shared to be enjoyed.” Kirsten says.

But that’s not all she does. Kirsten is an active mother to her 3-year old son, Kyle and a loving wife to husband Brett, who works for Heritage Bank of Central Illinois. Additionally, Kirsten has a thriving career in safety and risk management with Westfield Insurance. She also has extensive training in ergonomics and tries to bring alignment and wellness to her insurance customers as well.

Kirsten holds a BA from Bradley University in International Relations with a Business focus and has earned not only a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) designation, but also an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Certificate of Study in Ergonomics.

If Kirsten can manage a family, a full time and part time career, writing, and still make time for wellness and yoga practice, you can too!