By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
The area’s newest healthcare facility is officially open for business.
Citadel Health Center—located at 900 Dix St., Suite 300, in Otsego—held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
Owned by the husband-wife team of Dr. Wesley Eichorn and Dr. Susan Jevert-Eichorn, Citadel Health offers a membership-based healthcare model as opposed to the traditional pay-per-visit approach.
Also known as direct primary care, this approach involves individuals or families paying a set monthly membership fee that covers most healthcare services.
“We’ve chosen to use this approach because it’s centered around the idea of simplifying and enhancing the patient experience,” Eichorn said. “It allows us to focus on quality over quantity and provide longer appointments with our patients.
“It also allows us to bypass the constraints of traditional insurance-based systems. So, in the end, we think it is a healthcare delivery model that incentivizes wellness rather than reactively treating illness after it happens.”
Current membership pricing is $85 per month per person. After the first two members of a family join, additional family members are $30 each per month with a family maximum of $250 per month.
A family includes up to two parents and all children ages 20 or younger.
“Our goal is to create a refuge of trust and respect where individuals are empowered to make their own healthcare decisions,” Eichorn said.
Although Citadel Health is new to Otsego, Eichorn and Jevert-Eichorn actually started the business two years ago.
It was previously located in Caledonia, since the couple was limited with where they were allowed to practice due to a prior employment contact.
“Otsego is close to home and is a central location for our current patients, which makes it a logical place for us to practice long term,” Eichorn said. “The community has been very welcoming, and we’re excited to be here.”
Current business hours for Citadel Health are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eichorn is scheduled to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with Jevert-Eichorn in the office on Wednesdays and Fridays.
“We’re alternate working in the office and taking care of our three children (ages five, four and two),” Eichorn said. “We enjoy being able to be home with the children and the children enjoy having a parent home most days.”
Citadel Health Center offers “comprehensive medical care similar to what you would expect at typical family practice clinics.”
Those services include the treatment of acute illnesses and chronic diseases for children and adults; wellness education; laboratory testing; office procedures; and coordination with specialists when needed.
“Health is something that is not achieved only by going to a doctor,” Eichorn said. “You need to have a curiosity and be your own advocate. In our setting, this has led us to incorporating other elements of wellness such as light exposure, nutrition, and movement and incorporating that into effects on mind, body and spirit.
“Most healthcare professionals, including us, entered the profession with a desire to help people. We think the direct primary care model is the structure that is the most effective model for enabling health care providers to guide you in achieving health.”
For more information about Citadel Health, visit www.citadelhealthcenter.com or call (269) 276-4347.