Kathy was raised in Topeka, Kansas the youngest of three children. She completed her Bachelor of Nursing in 1975 at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Seven months after graduation, she married her husband, Jack Collins MD. Together they left their families in Kansas, and moved to Modesto so that Jack could attend the University of California, Davis, Family Practice Residency Program. Kathy worked as an RN at Modesto City Hospital as the Coordinator of Maternal Child Nursing and initiated the first Family Birthing Center in Modesto.
      In 1979, she returned to school at the University of California, Davis, Family Nurse Practitioner program and graduated with her FNP Certificate.  Between 1980 and 1985, Kathy and Jack Collins had 3 sons, Craig, Brian and Clint. Throughout the raising of their children, Kathy worked part-time as an FNP at Family Health Care.
      In 2002, she returned to graduate school through Sonoma State University and completed her Masters of Nursing in 2004. She currently teaches part-time, in the Family Nurse Practitioner program of Sonoma State University. Her interests as an FNP include: Woman’s Health, Adolescent Health and Diabetic Care.
      Her outside interest include: a love of dogs, horses, snow-skiing, gardening and ranch life on the family cattle ranch near Redding, CA and relaxing in Maui, Hawaii.