Meet the Team Behind Your Healing Journey
At Vitality Renewal, you’re never handed off to whoever’s available. Our clinical team is small by design — because thoughtful, root-cause care can’t happen in a revolving door. Every clinician, coordinator, and support specialist on this page plays a specific role in your experience, from your very first conversation with us to your long-term care. We’re glad you’re here.
Your Clinical Care Team
The providers who will assess, guide, and oversee your care.
Yvonne Karney, MD, FACOG, ABAARM | Founder & Executive Medical Director
“Through thousands of hours of research and over 80,000 patient encounters I’ve learned that knowledge truly is power. I’m passionate about helping you UNDERSTAND what’s happening in your body–not just treating your symptoms.”
Dr. Yvonne Karney has spent over 25 years in medicine doing one thing: finding better answers for women who deserve them. She’s a sought-after clinician, educator, and researcher, and the founder and Executive Medical Director of Vitality Renewal Functional Medicine in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
She began her career as a U.S. Air Force physician after graduating from Loma Linda University School of Medicine — proudly serving her country for eight years before transitioning to OB/GYN practice in the Chicago suburbs, where she also served as Department Chair.
What changed everything was her patients. Women came to her exhausted, foggy, and dismissed — told their labs were normal when they knew something was wrong. Her traditional training didn’t have the answers. Then perimenopause hit her personally, and she understood exactly what they’d been describing for years. She threw herself into research. Once she discovered what functional medicine made possible, she couldn’t unlearn it — and she felt she owed it to her patients to bring them something that actually works.
She founded Vitality Renewal in 2016 on that conviction.
Teaching & Empowering Through Education
Dr. Karney believes that an informed patient is an empowered one. She teaches other physicians in functional medicine, has appeared on CBS Chicago News and Bloom TV in Tampa, and uses frameworks like The Hormone Locksmithâ„¢ to help patients truly understand what’s happening in their bodies — as well as what to do about it.
Her goal is simple: help women reclaim their health so they can show up fully for the life they’re meant to live.
Making the world a better place, one healthy person at a time.
Tanya Tanzillo, DNP, FNP-BC | Family Nurse Practitioner
Tanya has been caring for McHenry County families for over 20 years. That kind of roots-down commitment to a community isn’t something you find everywhere — and it shapes everything about how she practices.
Through years of searching for better ways to help her patients optimize their health, Tanya discovered functional medicine and knew she’d found her clinical home. She went on to earn her doctorate, completing her PhD with a thesis focused on men’s health — bringing a rigorous research foundation to her already deep clinical experience.
What draws her to this work is the same thing that draws patients to Vitality Renewal: the belief that the body has a remarkable capacity to heal when it’s given what it truly needs. Tanya loves the way functional medicine honors the whole person — diet, movement, stress, sleep — rather than simply layering medications on top of symptoms.
When she’s not in the office, Tanya enjoys time with her wonderfully supportive husband. She loves good food, travel, and doing almost anything that gets her outside.
Charmagne Benz, MS, FNP-BC | Family Nurse Practitioner
Charmagne has always believed that the best healthcare is the kind that actually gets to the bottom of things. That conviction led her from nine years of hospital-based nursing to becoming a Family Practice Nurse Practitioner — and eventually to Vitality Renewal, where root-cause thinking isn’t the exception. It’s the standard.
She discovered functional medicine during her training at Northern Illinois University, where she had the privilege of rotating through Vitality Renewal. What she witnessed — the depth of care, the time taken with each patient, the genuine commitment to healing rather than symptom management — drew her in immediately. She never looked back.
Charmagne brings warmth, clinical rigor, and a deep respect for each patient’s individual journey. She believes that real healing requires partnership — and that every woman who walks through the door deserves to be heard, believed, and given a clear path forward.
Outside the office, you’ll find her enjoying time with her four children, playing piano, singing, and spending as much time outdoors as possible — with pickleball currently at the top of the list.
Your In-Office Support Team
The people who make your visits run smoothly and your experience feel personal.
Barbara Bisanz | Medical Assistant Team Lead & Health Coach
Barbara has been working as a medical assistant since 2013 — starting in conventional care before transitioning to functional medicine in 2021, where she found the approach to patient support she’d been looking for all along.
What drew her deeper into this work was the opportunity to do more than assist — to genuinely educate and walk alongside patients through real transformation. In 2025 she completed her certification as an Integrative Health Practitioner, adding health coaching to her role at Vitality Renewal and expanding the ways she can support patients between clinical visits.
Barbara is a big animal lover and spends her time outside the office being active outdoors with her husband and son.
Nicole Garcia-Knapp | Medical Assistant
Nicole joined Vitality Renewal in November 2025 — and after 22 years in conventional medicine, she’ll tell you there’s no going back.
She came to this work with two decades of experience watching patients cycle through a system that treated their symptoms without ever asking why. Stepping into functional medicine for the first time was, in her words, a revelation. The difference in how patients are seen, heard, and cared for is something she feels every single day.
What moves her most is witnessing it firsthand — patients whose lives have been meaningfully changed through an approach that finally took their concerns seriously. Being part of that kind of work isn’t something Nicole takes for granted.
Araceli Delgado | Medical Assistant
Araceli joined the Vitality Renewal team in December 2025 and felt the alignment immediately — with the mission, the people, and the purpose behind the work.
As a medical assistant, she’s often one of the first faces a patient sees. Whether she’s helping with labs, preparing for an appointment, or simply taking a moment to make someone feel at ease, she understands that those interactions matter. Healing doesn’t only happen in the exam room — and Araceli takes that seriously.
What she loves most about this work is the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in people’s lives inside an environment that genuinely values growth and human connection. She believes every patient deserves to feel seen, supported, and empowered in their journey.
Outside the office, Araceli is grounded in her faith, her community, and the things that bring peace and balance to her life.
Kristin Salagaj | Director of Operations
Kristin brings 23 years of healthcare administration experience to her role as Director of Operations at Vitality Renewal — and she puts every one of those years to work creating an environment where exceptional care can actually happen.
Her work is driven by a genuine passion for building systems that support both the clinical team and the patient experience. When providers aren’t bogged down by operational friction, patients feel it. That connection between behind-the-scenes structure and front-facing care is where Kristin thrives.
What drew her to Vitality Renewal was the proof. The patients’ own success stories spoke louder than any job description — and that’s not something you find everywhere.
A Texas transplant, Kristin has quickly made Crystal Lake home and fallen in love with the warmth of this Midwest community. Outside the office you’ll find her on the local trails with her two sons and her boxer Thalia, training at her CrossFit gym, or unwinding with a good true-crime podcast.
Danny Whited | Reception Team Lead & Wellness Coordinator
Danny is often one of the first people you’ll connect with at Vitality Renewal — and he plays a unique dual role on our team.
As Reception Team Lead, he helps ensure your experience from the very first contact is smooth, warm, and well-coordinated. As our Wellness Coordinator, he works with current patients to explore the ancillary services available to them — things like neurofeedback, frequency specific microcurrent, and our aesthetic and rejuvenation treatments — so that nothing that could support your healing goes overlooked.
Danny joined the Vitality Renewal team in September 2024 and brought with him a genuine curiosity and love of learning that fits right into a practice built on education and discovery. Outside the office, he’s an avid camper, a dedicated gamer, and a proud dog dad to two dachshunds, Rex and Ruby.
Kimberly Reich | Reception
Kimberly came to Vitality Renewal first as a patient in 2022 — and what she experienced changed everything.
After years of feeling unwell and being dismissed, she found a team that took the time to listen, validated what she was experiencing, and went looking for the root cause instead of offering another quick fix. That experience was so meaningful that when the opportunity came to join the team in August 2024, she didn’t hesitate.
Now she gets to be part of the reason other women find their way here — and that’s not something she takes lightly.
Outside the office, Kimberly and her husband love getting out into nature — hiking, camping, and enjoying time with their church community in Elgin. She’s also a proud Michigan girl who loves visiting family back home.
Dian Hoggatt | Reception
Dian joined the Vitality Renewal front desk team in February 2025 — and the more she learned about the practice before coming on board, the more certain she was that this was where she wanted to be.
What drew her in was the culture. The way Dr. Karney and the entire team care for their patients — the compassion, the tireless commitment to finding what’s truly best for each person, the camaraderie that makes every day feel worthwhile. That’s not something you stumble into. It’s built intentionally, and Dian recognized it immediately.
She shows up every day proud to be part of a team that’s doing something that genuinely matters.
Your Behind-the-Scenes Team
The specialists working on your behalf before, between, and after your appointments.
Heather Moeller | Patient Concierge
Your first conversation with Vitality Renewal will likely be with Heather.
As our Patient Concierge, she’s the one who takes the time to understand where you are, what you’ve already tried, and what you’re hoping to find here. She hosts every Discovery Call — a real conversation so you can ask questions and get a clear picture of what working with our team looks like before you commit to anything. Not only that, she’s a prior patient who experienced a 180-degree turn-around in her health at Vitality Renewal, so she gets it. She can relate to where you’re at and help you see the possibility of a healthy future.
If you’re wondering whether Vitality Renewal is the right fit for you, Heather is your first call.
Ria Alqueza | Patient Care Coordinator
Ria joined Vitality Renewal in May 2025 as our Patient Care Coordinator — working remotely from the Philippines as a full and seamlessly integrated member of our team.
Behind the scenes, she’s the one making sure the details don’t fall through the cracks. From scheduling QT breast imaging scans and delivering imaging reports to patients, to ensuring questionnaires are completed before appointments, Ria keeps the coordination that supports your care running smoothly.
What she values most about this work is the people — a collaborative, kind, and genuinely supportive team that makes every day both productive and meaningful. That kind of environment inspires her to keep growing and bring her best to every patient interaction.
Lynn Johnson | Marketing Assistant
Lynn came to Vitality Renewal first as a patient — and the experience left a mark she couldn’t ignore.
The compassionate care, the supportive atmosphere, the real and lasting impact she witnessed firsthand — it made her want to be part of what was happening here. When the opportunity came to join the team in April 2025, she didn’t hesitate.
Now she channels that personal connection into her work helping Vitality Renewal grow and reach more women who need this kind of care. Being part of an environment where patients feel heard, supported, and genuinely empowered in their health is something she doesn’t take lightly.
Lynn has called this community home for 29 years. Outside the office you’ll most likely find her at a baseball field cheering on her kids — family, community, and contributing to something meaningful are what drive her, both at home and at work.
Ready to meet your team in person?
Your first step is a Discovery Call — a no-pressure conversation to see if we’re the right fit.