At the Root, a functional medicine practice at 210 N. 10th St. Suite 30, will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. July 24.
The practice is owned and operated by Dr. Meredith Potrzebowski, an osteopathic physician; Alison Zolcak, a nurse practitioner; and Kara Hutchinson, a nutrition coach. Potrzebowski and Zolcak previously worked together and had shared issues with the structure of their traditional practice.
“We kind of noticed that we were not spending as much time with patients as we’d like,” Zolcak said. “We really had this vision and this dream to go out on our own and practice the way that we feel is right (for patients) and what they deserve.”
They chose functional medicine to take a deeper dive into comprehensive testing.
“Functional medicine basically is about getting to the root causes of why things happen,” Zolcak said. “Is it genetic, is it stress (or) could it be something else going on?”
The practice offers a variety of services, including functional medicine office visits and gut microbiome restoration.
“There’s this saying, ‘When in doubt, start with the gut,’ because a lot of diseases and issues can actually first start within the gut,” Zolcak said. “The goal of the gut microbiome program is to restore health to the gut, and then in turn restore health to the patient.”
They also offer cupping, acupuncture and osteopathic manipulation for patients and non-patients.
“Osteopathic manipulation (is) a gentle form of physical therapy or chiropractic care,” Zolcak said. “Dr. Potrzebowski will try to get your body back in alignment by movement, and then she does cupping and acupuncture, which are great for those who might be suffering from musculoskeletal pain.”
The practice also offers nutrition visits with Hutchinson.
“She tries to work directly with the patient to help them eat a little bit healthier, find out ways that work for them and she works on preferences,” Zolcak said. “She’s not the type of person that’s just going to tell you, ‘Hey, you need to do this diet,’ and not work with you. She works on trying to build healthy habits with nutrition, and she will also help patients decide what groceries to buy, how to shop and things like that, too.”
For more, visit attheroot.net.
