Better Than Imagined

When Jessie and I started CLIMB, we had high hopes and a vision of changing how health care was being provided and how people interacted with their health and their health care providers. Based on our individual experiences, we knew the way care was being delivered had to change and that care had to be more cohesive.  We knew the medical system was failing patients and providers and that we could do it better. We knew it would be beneficial to  provide medical and mental health care together. 

What I didn’t realize was how much better it could get. 

As Jessie and I started working together at CLIMB, the opportunities for better care emerged organically as we started interacting with and getting to know our new community. The atmosphere alone offers a different approach - you just feel welcome right when you walk in; the space is open, bright, and calm, with warm smells and mixed music lingering from room to room.  But it is more than just the atmosphere. We focused on creating a place where you have a direct relationship with your doctor - no hierarchy, no barriers. This openness gives a fantastic patient experience and provides a solid foundation for therapy, nutrition, and fitness specialists to do their work more effectively and continuously as care is fluid and approachable.

In the traditional system, providers are in silos, regardless whether they are privately paid or insurance based. This segmentation fails patients as it does not support them into the gray areas of health, where there’s nuance, where there’s personal questions, where mental health is involved, where body image and confidence plays a role, let alone how all of these things come together. Providers in the traditional system are overwhelmed and often cannot even attempt the nuance of these areas. Patients are left feeling alone and often then turn to “Doctor Google”, calling family and friends, Facebook communities, TikTok, and many of the other ways we navigate this lack of support. The information from these sources can be overwhelming, misinterpreted, and misapplied, ultimately raising even more questions and potentially causing harm. 

At CLIMB, we move through the gray areas of health with you. We created a community of providers that can meet in the gray and help make easier transitions in working from body to mind to spirit.  I have found this work to be the most rewarding. As a provider, working from the mental health and somatic perspective, being able to communicate, work with, and even have collaborative sessions with my patients and another provider has been remarkable.  Imagine a session with your therapist and your doctor talking about your stress and physical manifestations of stress at the same time. This happens at CLIMB! We make transitions easy and break down barriers to focus on your health. Patients and providers are all on the same page, speaking the same language and approaching health completely. While this isn’t every session, it is not infrequent and it certainly is a way that CLIMB is helping people in a way that is better than traditional systems. I’m proud of the way we work. 

Because of our collaborative style, over the past year, I have seen and learned a lot. Whether it’s a fact about anatomy, organic produce, or how certain insurances prefer certain medications, every day is something new. I have often joked about needing to write another book, “What I Have Learned at CLIMB Today,” because every day, there is something new. There is learning, application, movement, growth, and inspiration happening every day at CLIMB. 

While learning alone can be nourishing, there is also the application of knowledge that moves life. What I am most grateful for is what I have seen in others at CLIMB. I have seen the novelty of joy in one's own body. I have seen the delight in realizing a new path. I have seen people move through fears. I have seen what happens when people take risks and are supported. I have seen what losses have been avoided. I have seen people know themselves better. I have seen spiritual connections grow. I have seen trust being built.  I have seen people awaken from beliefs that they could not ask more from their providers. I have seen people grieve that they have limited their lives because they didn’t know better was out there. I have seen people grow and now know that better is possible. I have seen people become more themselves, more alive. 

What a gift. 

I know that better is happening; better is at CLIMB. I am proud and humbled at what Jessie and I have accomplished this first year. I intend to continue to find ways to be curious about roadblocks and question if there is something even better to move towards. 

I am looking forward to our second year of building, growing, and redefining primary care.  

I hope to see you at CLIMB!