Dr. Gina Casian, a board-certified Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine physician and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, founded Choose Healthy in 2025, a solo concierge medical practice in Coronado.
“Choose Healthy opened in July 2025 as an independent, direct-care concierge practice offering comprehensive primary care, chronic disease management, and Lifestyle Medicine,” Dr. Casian told me. Her family has lived in Coronado for a decade, with her husband serving in the U.S. Navy and her son attending Village Elementary School.
Dr. Casian explained that her journey to opening the practice began the year before she turned 50. “I felt somewhat lost and without a clear sense of direction. Professionally, I was secure, but not fulfilled. Personally, I was content, yet there was no spark,” she said.
After watching the Blue Zones documentary on Netflix, she resolved to visit the world’s Blue Zones to learn how people live, eat, connect, and age. “I experienced truly meaningful moments and collected unforgettable memories that I will cherish for a lifetime,” she said. Returning home inspired and grateful, she felt a strong desire to give back, which led her to open Choose Healthy.
One feature that sets Choose Healthy apart is its extended personalized visits. “Time is one of my personal core values. But time is not only something precious that needs to be protected wisely. In medicine, time can also be an extraordinary clinical tool,” Dr. Casian said. She highlighted that many patients arrive with complex medical histories, and longer appointments allow her to review histories, current concerns, and the six lifestyle pillars: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of harmful substances, and social connections.
Now, over a year after opening, Choose Healthy is expanding its offerings. “Our expanding areas now include certified menopause care and hormone therapy, physician-supervised weight management, DXA total body composition and bone density assessment, and HydraFacial cosmetic treatments,” she said. These services support the health and wellness needs of the community.
Dr. Casian emphasized the importance of individualized menopause care. “Every woman has unique biology. Hormone therapy has real contraindications, and every candidate requires a detailed risk and benefits assessment,” she said. She also noted that lifestyle factors such as nutrition, resistance training, and restorative sleep remain essential. “My passion for Women’s Health and Menopause was inspired by my own perimenopause experience and ultimately strengthened by my recent formal certification,” she said, adding that the symptoms of the menopause transition are real and physiologically driven, rooted in complex neuroendocrine and cardiometabolic changes that can affect sleep, mood, cognition, energy, body composition, and overall well-being.
Adding DXA scanning to Choose Healthy’s services allows patients to monitor body composition and bone density. “Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is considered a gold-standard method for measuring bone mineral density and is widely used for body-composition assessment. It distinguishes fat mass from lean mass and provides information that a traditional scale simply cannot,” she began. “It can also estimate visceral adipose tissue, the metabolically active fat stored around the internal organs that is strongly associated with cardiometabolic disease.”
DXA assessments are particularly valuable for the rising number of people using GLP-1 medications for weight loss, as they help track fat and muscle changes over time. “The scale is only a small part of the story. It can tell you that you lost ten pounds, but it cannot tell you if you lost fat, muscle, or both,” she explained.
HydraFacial services were added to support skin health and overall well-being. “When it comes to skin health, I am a strong believer in natural beauty, aging with grace, and that radiant glow that comes from within — at the same time, I believe that caring for and improving our physical appearance should not automatically be dismissed as superficial,” Dr. Casian said. “How we feel about ourselves can be an important part of whole-person well-being: mind, body, and spirit. Many of us, women, when we look good, we also feel good.”
According to Dr. Casian, the HydraFacial is non-invasive, relaxing, requires no downtime, and delivers an immediate post-treatment glow many patients appreciate.
“Its simplicity, effectiveness, and gentle approach are exactly why I decided to bring HydraFacial to Choose Healthy,” she explained. “We are now privileged to work with two talented local licensed aestheticians, each bringing unique personal and professional qualities to our team. They are joining the practice not simply to work for us, but to support Choose Healthy as it grows, while they simultaneously evolve professionally and find personal fulfillment in their work.”
Dr. Casian explained that adults of any age, both men and women, can benefit from Choose Healthy’s wide variety of services. Introducing these new services demonstrates Dr. Casian’s commitment to Choose Healthy’s mission of continuous growth and adaptation. “My hope is that Choose Healthy will continue to grow from the same foundation on which it was created: simplicity, authenticity, autonomy, and a balanced and harmonious doctor-patient relationship,” Dr. Casian said. “I am deeply grateful and feel privileged to continue learning and growing, not only as a physician, but with the patients I have the honor of caring for.”
To learn more about Choose Healthy’s services—including Internal and Lifestyle Medicine, menopause care, hormone therapy, weight management, DXA scanning, and HydraFacials—visit ChooseHealthy.net or call 619-675-3221 to schedule a complimentary 20-minute consultation.
VOL. 116, NO. 36 – Sept. 9, 2026