Saint Joseph Health Welcomes Samantha Barry to Gastroenterology Team

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 31, 2025) – Saint Joseph Health welcomes Samantha Barry, MSN, FNP-C, to its team at Saint Joseph Medical Group – Gaastroenterology in Lexington. Barry has worked in health care since 2009, serving hospitals in medical oncology and emergency medicine, before becoming a family nurse practitioner in 2016.

“I’ve always just loved helping people and I feel like I have great empathy for others,” Barry said. In school, she thought that would lead her into mental health, but found that she wanted to care for the whole person.

She began her career as a registered nurse in medical oncology at Virginia Hospital Center and was nominated for Oncology Nurse of the Year in 2011. She moved to emergency medicine in Vriginia and carried that passion when she moved back to Lexington in 2013 as an ER nurse at UK Hospital.

“I really like the autonomoy of taking care of patients and being able to find out what’s wrong with them, give them a diagnosis and then follow up with them,” she said. “I really focus on patient-led decision making and letting them decide between a few different options if that’s something we can do together.”

She was interested in gastroenterology because of the number of patients she saw with those issues in family medicine.  "I've become increasingly interested in treating liver diseases as they are becoming more common across our nation. I am passionate about exploring how  dietary changes and lifestyle modifications, coupled with evidence-based medical treatments can improve patient outcomes,” she said.

Barry is a Lafayette High School graduate and earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of South Carolina in 2009. She earned her master’s degree as a family nurse pratitioner from Eastern Kentucky University in 2016, then worked as an APRN with Versailles Family Medicine.

Barry and her husband Kevin have three children, ages 7, 5 and 2. The family loves to travel and watch sports, the Kentucky Wildcats and Cincinnati Bengals in particular. In her spare time, Barry enjoys reading and exercising and just spending time with family.

Samantha Nichols Barry, MSN, FNP-C, will see patients at Saint Joseph Medical Group – Gastroenterology, 1401 Harrodsburg Road, Suite C-305, in Lexington. To schedule an appointment, call 859-278-8400.

About Saint Joseph Health

Saint Joseph Health, part of CommonSpirit Health, is one of the largest and most comprehensive health systems in the Commonwealth of Kentucky with 100 locations in 20 counties, including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes, home health agencies and an ambulatory Care Center. The hospitals in Saint Joseph Health are Flaget Memorial Hospital, Saint Joseph Berea, Saint Joseph East, Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph Jessamine, Saint Joseph London, Saint Joseph Mount Sterling, and Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East. In total, the health system serves patients in 35 counties statewide. Saint Joseph Health is dedicated to providing a wide array of services to build a healthier future for all. Saint Joseph Health embodies a strong mission and faith-based heritage and works through local partnerships to expand access to care in the communities it serves.

About the Saint Joseph Medical Group

Saint Joseph Medical Group is the employed provider network of Saint Joseph Health with 88 locations in 17 communities throughout central and eastern Kentucky.

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