From Patient to Provider: How Andrea Hinton Bond Found Her Calling Through Weight Loss Surgery

When patients walk into nurse practitioner Andrea Hinton Bond’s office at Memorial Wellness Center for the first time, she wants them to know she’s been in their shoes.

“I tell them, ‘Just so you know, I’ve been through this,’” she said. “I was a patient first.”

Andrea had bariatric surgery through Memorial Wellness Center in 2021. It was a life-changing experience – not only did she lose 155 pounds and transform her outlook on health and wellness, she also found her professional passion.

A few years later, she was working in another field of nursing when she saw a listing for a vacancy at the Wellness Center. “I saw the job posting and said, ‘Oh my gosh!’” she recalled. “I felt like I should really go for it, since I know what people are going through.”

Andrea joined the team in 2025 and now works with patients before and after bariatric surgery, as well as people pursuing non-surgical weight loss plans.

A multidisciplinary approach

Memorial provides bariatric surgery services via a partnership between Memorial Wellness Center, Springfield Memorial Hospital and SIU Medicine surgeons Adam Reid, MD, FACS, FASMBS, and James Feimster, MD, FASMBS.

In addition to Springfield, Memorial Wellness Center has locations at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital and Decatur Memorial Hospital, where Andrea works.

Throughout their journey, patients benefit from the support and expertise of a team at the Wellness Center that includes a medical provider, dietitian, physical therapist and – crucially – a behavioral health professional who can help prepare for the psychological impact of weight loss.

Andrea credits the team approach with her own successful long-term weight loss. “Like many people, I used food as a coping mechanism,” she said, noting that she had a history of losing weight and then gaining it back again. “I knew bariatric surgery would be a permanent tool for me.”

With the help of the Wellness Center team, she began to see food differently: as a way to fuel her body instead of a source of comfort. “Even though they didn’t do surgery on my brain, I feel like they did,” she joked.

Recently, the program received national recognition with a prestigious triple accreditation from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. This honor recognizes the program’s surgical expertise and their ability to create great outcomes for patients. The program has also been repeatedly recognized as a Blue Distinction Center by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for expertise and safe, quality care.

Personalized support

“Our program is so successful because it’s personalized for each patient’s individual needs and lifestyle,” Andrea said.

She helps patients decide which weight loss plan will help them meet their long-term goals. That could include one of four types of bariatric surgery, as well as GLP-1 medications. The Wellness Center offers a wide range of support, including consultation with dietitians, healthy cooking classes and more.

“We have such a positive environment here,” she said. “It’s great to see people come in happy about their victories, whether they’re on or off the scale, and see their health improve.”

The Wellness Center team includes several colleagues, like Andrea, who are former patients themselves.

“It’s rewarding to help our patients in the same way that my team helped me,” she said.