A life rooted in care, service, and accountability.

Dr. Shelly Nickels has built her career around listening, solving difficult problems, and helping people through some of the most important moments of their lives.

Shelly is a native-born Texan from Houston and graduated from Katy High School in 2001. She attended Trinity University in San Antonio, where she met her husband, Eric. They have been married for 19 years and have three children.

She attended medical school and completed her internal medicine residency at Marshall University in West Virginia. During her residency, she received the American College of Physicians award for advocacy in health care.

Shelly has worked as a hospitalist in San Antonio since 2014. She became the youngest medical director at Methodist Hospital, overseeing the largest hospitalist group for HCA at the largest hospital in Texas. She later earned a master's degree in health care administration through Trinity University's executive program.

She has chaired hospital committees, served on the medical executive committee for Methodist Hospital, and worked through the COVID-19 pandemic at one of the area's dedicated COVID hospitals, helping save lives while supporting patients, families, and colleagues.

Shelly loves the arts, travel, game nights with friends, and life with her family and two bulldogs, Potato and Tot. Her compassion, work ethic, and commitment to humane treatment have led her to run for the Texas House.