Our Team

Meet the Janning ENT Center Staff

At Janning ENT Center, our team of experts is committed to your health. We diagnose sinus disease, ear infections, and many other ear, nose and throat disorders as well as a myriad of sleep disorders. Our passion is to create a treatment plan specific to your situation!

ENT & Sleep Disorder Specialists in Willmar, Minnesota

Martin Janning, MD, DABSM

Otolaryngologist and Sleep Specialist

Dr. Janning grew up in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. He graduated magna cum laude from St. Olaf College in Northfield with majors in art and chemistry and a minor in biology. He was also very active in college music, government, sports, and tutoring. He was a member of the distinguished Phi Beta Kappa and Blue Key Honor Societies. He graduated with high honors from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis Medical School in 1991.

Dr. Janning completed two years of General Surgery Residency followed by four years of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Residency at Southern Illinois University, Springfield, Illinois.

He completed his Chief Residency in Otolaryngology in 1997 in Springfield.

Dr. Janning has extensive research and has published articles on various topics, with a primary interest in ototoxicity (hearing loss from chemotherapy drugs).

In 2009, Dr. Janning passed his certification to become a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine (DABSM).

Dr. Janning has been a practicing Board Certified Otolaryngologist in Minnesota since 1997. The Family Eye and ENT Center in southwest Willmar opened during the summer of 2005. This joint venture includes the Family Eye Center, Janning ENT Center and more recently, Janning Hearing Center.

Dr. Janning has many special interests. These include medical and surgical management of sinus disease, facial (nose, ears, lips, eyelids, cheeks) cancer and lesion excision with reconstruction, management of hearing loss and ringing (tinnitus), and management of sleep disorders (sleep apnea, snoring, restless legs, insomnia, sleepiness, and others). He also enjoys treating blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, otoplasty, coblation-assisted-tonsillectomies and thyroidectomies to help his patients feel their best.

Dr. Janning is an avid reader, a philatelist, and a horologist. He enjoys running and biking. He is in constant awe of his beloved wife, Amy, and their talented and ingenious five children. 

Jonathan Mellema, MD

Otolaryngologist

Dr. Mellema was born in Oklahoma and moved to Willmar at the age of 2. He has lived in this area his whole life. After studying at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis, Dr. Mellema did his residency at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Cincinnati for Otolaryngology, specializing in head and neck surgery. He has certifications with the American Board of Otolaryngology and the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.

When giving advice to patients, Dr. Mellema says to be your own health advocate. “If you are concerned, don’t be afraid to seek a second opinion and address issues right away before they become larger problems.”

Dr. Mellema’s special interests include treating disorders of the ear, nose and throat including tubes, tonsils and adenoids, sinus disease, allergy, salivary gland disorders and tumors. He also performs a variety of surgeries including endocrine, ears, nose and cysts of head and neck.

In his free time, Dr. Mellema enjoys being with his family. He loves the outdoors, and depending on the season, he can be found skiing, pheasant hunting or walleye fishing. He also enjoys watching football and hockey, playing video games with his children, reading, traveling and exercising. His busy home includes many pets, such as dogs, cats and chickens.

Audiologists in Willmar, Minnesota

Kristen Dargay, Au.D., CCC-A

Kristen Dargay, Au.D. was born and raised west of the Twin Cities. She graduated summa cum laude from Mankato State University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences. She attended graduate school at the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, CO and graduated with her Doctor of Audiology in 2017. Kristen is licensed in the state of Minnesota and has her Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Dr. Dargay is interested in adult diagnostics, the selection and fitting of amplification and counseling on hearing health and good hearing hygiene.

In her spare time, she enjoys camping with family, hanging out with her husband and cats and going up to her in-laws’ cabin to go boating, fishing, hunting and snowmobiling.

ENT Physicians in Willmar, Minnesota

Kara De Groot, NP-C

Kara De Groot, NP-C grew up in Montevideo, Minnesota. She graduated from Northwestern College in Orange City, IA, with a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2001 and went on to pursue her nursing career at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. There she worked as a nurse and nursing supervisor in the neonatal intensive care unit for 10 years. She got her Master’s in Nursing degree from SDSU in Brookings, SD, and worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner in Iowa prior to moving back to MN in the summer of 2020.

She is excited to be a part of an ENT specialty as she enjoys seeing people of all ages. She has a passion for education and helping others understand and take control of their own health.

In her spare time you will find her and her family enjoying the outdoors. Whether bicycling, running, paddle boarding, swimming, or skiing they are happy to enjoy all the natural beauty MN has to offer.

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