Barbara Bollier

Barbara Bollier became a doctor to help people. She went into public service to fix things that were broken. And she will be a United States Senator who does both.

After a career as a doctor, Barbara ran for the Kansas House of Representatives in 2010 to make a difference across the state. There, she served as an independent voice for Kansans, earning a reputation as a leader willing to stand up to both political parties to solve the challenges facing our families.

Barbara is a strong advocate for public schools, access to affordable healthcare and balanced budgets. Following the Great Recession, she worked with a bipartisan coalition to put the state back on sound fiscal footing. And when Governor Sam Brownback forced his radical tax experiment on Kansas, she stood up to her own political party and voted no.

In 2016, Barbara ran for the State Senate. There, she continued her fight to reverse the Brownback tax experiment, adequately fund our schools, and make healthcare more affordable for all. She partnered with then-Senator Laura Kelly and other commonsense leaders to build the bipartisan coalition that ultimately ended the failed Brownback tax plan that had devastated Kansas for years.

As a doctor, Barbara continues to be a leading voice of support for expanding Medicaid. In 2019, she called out the Senate Republican leadership for blocking Medicaid expansion while rural hospitals continued to struggle and close. She currently serves on the Governor’s Council on Medicaid Expansion tasked with building a bipartisan plan to expand healthcare for all Kansans.

Committed to community, Barbara has been active on the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation Board. She tutored public school students, volunteered at Pembroke Hill School, served as a respite caregiver and as an elder at Village Presbyterian Church. She also taught in the Bioethics Masters program at Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience.

The daughter of a doctor and nurse, Barbara Bollier grew up in Fairway and Mission Hills where she attended Kansas public schools all her life. She graduated from KU and went on to earn a medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. While at medical school, she met and married fellow classmate, Rene Bollier.

In 1987, Barbara joined her father in his anesthesia practice at Surgicenter of Kansas City. She and her husband have two children, Anne-Marie and Bobby.