Advocate Wellness

Why we do what we do...

Through my education as a doctor, I have been increasingly aware of how much good happens when a doctor and a patient are in a true partnership and how often that’s missing the mainstream medical model. Most patients feel like they’re being herded through a clinic with long wait times and a national average of 7 minutes to actually talk to their doctor. They leave with a script in their hands feeling used and stressed and wondering what just happened. Insurance and pharmacy-driven medicine has doctors, good and well-intentioned doctors, cramming people into their schedules trying to meet their overhead, fill their quotas, and just keep their doors open so they can help more people, perpetuating the cycle. The sad fact is that the system appears to be set up to charge the patient as much as possible for the shortest time possible to keep them on their medications for as long as possible.

If you take a look at it, are we spending more on healthcare or less? And, percentage-wise, are more people obese, diabetic, suffering from heart and cardiovascular disease, aches, pains, than 10 years ago or less? Are we hurting more or less? Are we on more medications or less? We are simply faced with a system that is set up beautifully for crisis care, but not for long-term health needs. It’s not designed to help you heal and get you off of your medications as soon as possible, but rather to “manage” disease and keep you on your prescriptions. If you are one of the lucky few to have a practitioner that helps you get off of as much medication as possible, praise the Lord and thank that doctor, physician’s assistant, or nurse profusely. They are doing exceptional work in a system that pays them to medicate their patients, not to set them free.

At Advocate Wellness, we believe in helping our practice members take charge of their health. That’s no easy task and so we partner with them, we support them, encourage them, help them build the tools and skills that they need and empower them with education, so that they can be truly free. Each of our practice members is unique, so our wellness programs are custom fit to each of them. What does freedom look like? For some people, freedom means losing that gut that they’ve been hauling around so they can look good on the beach, so they can smile when they see themselves in the mirror, and feel good about themselves and confident. For some people, freedom is being able to travel again with their spouse because they’re not on dialysis anymore. For others, freedom means not only spending time with the ones they love, but also being able to actually participate in life with their kids, their grandkids - going to their grandchild’s baseball game and hearing, “Who’s mom is that?” Being super mom, super dad, super grandpa, super grandma...

In order to help people reach that destination, in order to set our practice members free, we recognize that the current healthcare model, though filled with amazing, well-intentioned people, is not getting people well or keeping them well. We recognize that another approach is needed and so we deliver that unique approach - It starts because we care deeply and partner with our practice members to help them achieve that dream, to fulfill their bucket lists, or to live the last ten years of their lives actively and with great enjoyment instead of in pain, dysfunction, and probably in a “retirement” home. It continues as we empower our practice members to have leverage in their health, to work smarter, not harder - to avoid fads and lies that waste so much effort and destroy hope. It supports practice members by providing easy to understand, easy to follow step-by-step processes that make success achievable. It goes the extra mile by providing individualized coaching appointments, appointments that allow for a real conversation, for a healing relationship.

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