We recently connected with Catherine Kelly Peterson and have shared our conversation below.

Catherine Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

When I founded Wasatch Functional Medicine, I was inspired by the desire to make functional medicine accessible to many people and I do a lot of teaching in the exam room on a lifestyle I am passionate about. The way we eat, live, manage stress, sleep, and relationships affects our health. Food as Medicine is a concept that reaffirms this connection and recognizes that access to high-quality nourishment is essential for well-being. We teach patients that what you put in your body can harm or heal the body. In the world of healthcare, many professionals, myself included, enter the field with an unwavering commitment to enhancing the well-being of our patients’ lives. As a student, I quickly realized the challenges of working in a bustling family practice office, where the demand to see a patient every 15 minutes felt akin to a factory assembly line, especially where administrators demanded we see more patients in less time. This model wasn’t why I chose healthcare. I didn’t want to just refill medications and not explore the root causes of the dis-ease. I recognized the importance of creating a medical practice that afforded patients the time they required to ask questions and receive comprehensive information about their health concerns all while having the finances and tools to stay in business. My prior experience in a medical office offering functional medicine services, paired with the complexities of insurance billing, proved that insurance billing and functional medicine could not be an option. In January 2022, the clinic closed its doors, presenting me with a pivotal decision: return to primary care or pursue my passion for functional medicine. I chose the latter and embarked on establishing a functional medicine clinic in South Ogden, Utah that opened its doors to new patients in February 2022.

I never identified as being an entrepreneur at heart but was forced into the role when I made this decision and it seemed to happen overnight, so I had to figure it out very quickly. Functional medicine is renowned for its effectiveness, but it often comes with a hefty price tag for patients, ranging from several thousand dollars and I found this disheartening. I firmly believe that everyone should have access to such valuable healthcare services, and this has been my reason for opening my doors. To bridge this gap, I developed an affordable monthly membership plan that made sense financially for us and patients alike. Our clinic’s inclusive offering encompasses all office visits, discounts on traditional and specialized laboratory tests, clinic services and supplements, personalized health coaching, and group coaching sessions.

I take immense pride in our membership plan, and I will continue to offer functional medicine and healthcare from this vantage point. The high volume of word-of-mouth referrals and the trust of my current patients affirm that they do not perceive any compromise in the quality of our services and in my heart, I know that I am where I am supposed to be with this model. My reputation for delivering exemplary care holds paramount importance to me.

Catherine Kelly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am passionate about preventative health care and the significant differences in health disparities have always resonated with me. The first time I learned about the US Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People campaign was in 2010, as a registered nurse I knew this was where I wanted to be involved in health care, the period before health started to decline. In 2011, I studied Nursing Education at Weber State University, because I wanted to understand how people learn and what motivates people to change. Part of our mission at the clinic is to help people feel good again. The patients I see are chronically fatigued, and they have seen their primary care provider who looks at standard labs for nutrient deficiencies, iron deficiency, and hypothyroidism and tells them all their labs are normal, but they don’t feel well, and they are not sure why. They are tired of being dismissed as depressed, anxious, or low in vitamins and it will get better when it does not resolve that easily. I offer a medical service that teaches patients how to restore health even after a chronic medical diagnosis, so they really feel good again.

Recognizing that not everyone can afford a membership or office visit at our clinic, I extend a compassionate hand by offering FREE consultations. During these sessions, I offer invaluable guidance on addressing diverse health concerns, such as mold exposures, candida overgrowth, heavy metal toxicity, gastrointestinal issues, hormone imbalances including estrogen dominance, women’s wellness issues such as urinary incontinence, dyspareunia, peri and post-menopausal concerns, and more. Additionally, I provide FREE educational classes for anyone eager to gain deeper insights into various health-related topics. This unwavering commitment is driven by my passion for functional medicine and the genuine joy of witnessing people and patients regain their well-being. In essence, my primary objective is to ensure that functional medicine is accessible to as many individuals as possible, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Yes, and thank you for asking! Dr. Joe Dispenza’s book You Are the Placebo and Unconventional Medicine by Chris Kresser has influenced how I feel about medicine. Dr. Dispenza is a researcher in neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics. His work primarily focuses on the connection between the mind, body, and consciousness, and how individuals can harness their thoughts and emotions to create significant positive changes in their lives. It resonates with me because this is how we heal the body and influence change within ourselves and others. Dr. Chris Kresser is a practitioner of functional and integrative medicine. He is an advocate of unconventional or alternative approaches to healthcare and emphasizes the importance of personalized healthcare. He believes that every individual has unique health needs, and a one-size-fits-all approach may not be the most effective. I do not have a one-size-fits-all approach to patient care and his approach to healthcare helped me shape the direction of my clinic. I look at health history as a story of what brought the patient to the health concerns they present with at our office today and each patient has a different story and plan for restoring health.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the pivotal challenges in establishing my own medical practice was charting the initial course, but my entrepreneurial experience, coupled with an existing telemedicine functional medicine business, provided a sturdy foundation to build upon. While setting the right price point was a source of concern, the most significant challenge in 2022 revolved around securing the right team members. I found myself compelled to hire swiftly, offer rapid training, and maintain hope that our medical assistants would stay. However, they didn’t always stay, and I came to appreciate the mindset that career progression often involves learning new skills from other clinics and securing pay raises by exploring different roles. The loss of employees was very stressful, but this valuable lesson about life and progression fostered an attitude of gratitude within me, allowing me to persevere in our clinic’s primary mission, which is the delivery of personalized patient care centering my focus on the patient and then finding a team with similar values.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.WasatchFunctionalMedicine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wasatch_functional_medicine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WasatchFunctional