Mountain Wellness WV offers primary care and natural wellness options in Lewisburg

By Jenny Harnish, RealWV

When Wade Smith closed the doors to his family practice in Florida and moved to West Virginia, he didn’t have plans to open another one. He got a job in corporate health care but soon realized it wasn’t for him.

“I quickly came to realize that I couldn’t practice medicine that way, so I decided that I needed to start my own practice again,” he said.

On June 1st, Smith opened the newest primary care facility in Lewisburg — Mountain Wellness WV.

Smith began his journey in medicine 38 years ago, working in the fast-paced setting of emergency rooms and as a travel nurse in hospitals across the United States.

In 2015, he obtained his master’s degree and became a board-certified family nurse practitioner, eventually opening up his own practice in Florida, which he operated for six years.

“Mountain Wellness is a primary care facility, but it incorporates the integrative part of medicine and offers a natural approach,” he said.

Smith’s interest in holistic medicine came after seeing how many pills were being prescribed and the various side effects that accompanied them.

“I am doing integrative medicine. So not only do I use Western medicine and the traditional sense of medicine, but I also incorporate — if a patient wants it — a more natural approach to various conditions using herbs or supplements. I do extensive research on the things that I use to make sure there is scientific evidence that they provide a benefit.”

“I did the research, and I found out that there were a lot of alternative things that could be taken and used for treating various things,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong — medication has come a long way and has helped us conquer a lot of diseases and various pathophysiology, but when it comes to a lot of the patients, I thought I’d like to offer them more of a holistic approach.”

For Smith, having his own practice means being able to give the type of personal care that he feels is important. When he worked in corporate health care settings, he was limited to the amount of time he could spend with patients, and he had to meet patient quotas.

“Unfortunately, our health care system works on dollars — how many dollars are you going to generate for me. I approach it differently because that’s not what it’s about for me. It’s about the patient, what’s going on with the patient, and helping the patient maintain health.”

“I control the flow of my office — I control how much time is spent with the patient. I don’t have a corporate entity dictating to me or telling me that you can only have 20 minutes for a patient who really needs more than that.”

Smith has been working on his own line of skin care products, named WV Mountain Roots Apothecary, available through the office. They are made with ingredients that have traditionally been used for a variety of conditions. He is currently working on several other products and has plans to sell them on the website in the future.