After graduating from Lufkin High School, Dr. Huggins earned a BS in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University. She then completed medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, followed by a residency in Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she served as Chief Resident. She upgraded her “chief” title in 2015 when she served for two years as Chief of Staff of Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Huggins is Board Certified in Pediatrics and a member of the Texas Pediatrics Association, Texas Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She’s involved in the local community, too. She’s a member of Grace Bible Church, and she was on the board of the Janelle Grum Family Crisis Center. Dr. Huggins finds it important to create a comforting, relatable connection to both patients and their parents, and her office dog, Zadoc, tries to do the same! Dr. Huggins is married with three children, and they have three more pups at home.
Mary Barnette, MD, FAAP
Pediatrician
Dr. Barnette earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Mississippi State University. She grew up in the United States Air Force and even attended medical school on an Air Force scholarship, earning her medical degree from the University of Mississippi. Dr. Barnette served three years active duty as a general medical officer at Vance Air Force Base before completing her pediatric residency at Texas Tech University.
Dr. Barnette is Board Certified in Pediatrics and a member of the Texas Medical Association. She also served on the Nacogdoches County Child Fatality Review Team. Dr. Barnette finds joy in working with children and in healthcare, a trait she picked up from her mother, who was a nurse. She is married with three beautiful children, and she stays involved with school booster clubs and activities.
Moriah Riggins, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC, IBCLC
Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
After graduating from Woden High School, Moriah attended Panola College and Stephen F. Austin State University to earn an undergraduate degree in nursing. She worked as a Registered Nurse for nine years before completing a Master of Science in Nursing degree at University of South Alabama. 2022 marked her 20th year as a nurse, and she’s been a Board Certified Lactation Consultant since 2009.
Moriah fulfills a variety of patient needs, though she realized early in her career that she had a special passion for helping mothers and their babies navigate one of the most exciting and stressful times of their lives. She now finds particular joy in helping a mother overcome breastfeeding difficulties and find success in lactation. Moriah is active in New Hope Church, and she has served on various boards and clubs at Woden ISD, where her daughter attends school. Her son graduated from Woden and attends college. Her family has three dogs, two cats and plenty of cattle and show pigs.
Linda Chhay, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC
Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Linda graduated from Lufkin High School and then attended The University of Texas at Austin, where she earned both her Master of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Studies. Before joining the PineyWoods Pediatrics care team in 2022, Linda was a nursing instructor at Angelina College and worked as a Nurse Practitioner at a pediatric urgent care in Houston. Though most of her family works in the corporate world, Linda was led to pursue healthcare after helping her dad through a difficult diabetes diagnosis.
Linda has two children of her own and a teenage dachshund, Maximum. Her love of family and the East Texas community brought her back home, and her love of helping kids brought her to PineyWoods Pediartics. She says seeing her little patients light up in a smile is what drives her passion. As she says, "Kids are just so resilient, even the really sick ones – they always find the positivity in life, and I think we can all just take a lesson from that."
CONTACT US
3614 N. University Drive
Nacogdoches, TX 75965
(936) 560-9000