Center aims to stop health problems in their tracks

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Modern medicine has experienced a change in its collective consciousness. Instead of dealing with diseases as they occur, physicians are dealing with the prevention and management of diseases before they get out of hand.

“The 10 most common diseases in this country are lifestyle-related,” said Dr. M. Fernandez Kiemele of the Lifestyle Medicine Center in Gig Harbor. “Smoking, physical inactivity and poor nutrition are factors behind high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease.”

Kiemele heads the center that recently opened at the Milgard Medical Pavilion at St. Anthony Hospital. The center offers a program complete with a registered dietitian, behavioral health counselor, fitness trainer and spiritual director.

“Lifestyle medicine is a growing field,” Kiemele said. “We have an interdisciplinary team that helps people become proactive with changes they can incorporate into their daily lives.

“If a physician says someone has high glucose, we offer them the education to make changes. We don’t just treat heart attacks, we offer proactive health to prevent one from happening in the first place.”

The center has a kitchen where patients can learn how to cook healthy meals using ingredients they can purchase at any grocery store.

“The kitchen is set up to teach cooking classes and give people something they can do right away,” Kiemele said. “If they need help picking out healthy food, our dietitian will go to the grocery store with them. If they need to know the proper way to walk, our fitness trainer will take them for a walk out on the grounds.”

“It’s all about providing people with the tools they need for success from each area of expertise,” said Anne Schnurman, marketing manager for the Franciscan Medical Group. “Nurturing the soul, mind and body helps patients succeed with disease management. And it’s all under one roof, so they are not receiving communication from different sources. It gives them the same message so it doesn’t get too confusing or overwhelming.”

Kiemele said the biggest challenge is people receiving a lot of their information from the Internet, magazines and TV ads.

“They don’t know where to start,” Kiemele said. “We tell them, ‘We’re going to walk with you and break it down into small steps.’ We look at a person’s health history and their life context and offer changes they can slowly incorporate into their lifestyle.”

If a person needs to add more fruits and vegetables into their diet, for example, the center can introduce it slowly so it becomes routine.

“People are often amazed that little things can make a big difference,” Kiemele said. “I’ve had people say that, by just adding a little bit of physical activity, they feel less sluggish and their whole lives improve. One woman said her husband’s blood glucose dropped and all he did was stop drinking pop.”

Schnurman said there isn’t another center like Lifestyle Medicine in the South Sound.

“We focus on treating the health of the whole person,” she said. “We ask them, ‘What are some ways I can help you?’ If a person is stressed out, is an emotional eater or just needs spiritual connectedness, we have experts in those fields.”

The staff works with patients’ physicians and offers regular updates on what they’re doing and how the patient is progressing.

“What we’re doing is cost-wise because it can prevent major problems down the road,” Kiemele said. “For instance, if a doctor sees that a patient is pre-diabetic, we can initiate lifestyle changes before it turns into full-blown diabetes.

“It’s so exciting with the new hospital and the medical center all going in. We can start here to create a healthier community.”

Lifestyle Medicine Center

Patients can reach the clinic at 253-530-2620 or register for classes at www.fhshealth.org/classes/default.asp.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.