<\/p>\n
Dr. Heidi Sungurlu and Dr. Christine Lopopolo pose for a photo in an exam room at their practice, ThriveWell Women’s Health, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Both doctors left the Adventist Health system late last year to pursue a more comprehensive way to practice primary care.<\/p>\n
Joan Lynch<\/p>\n
jlynch@thetribunenews.com<\/p>\n
After decades of caring for patients in San Luis Obispo County\u2019s corporate health system, Drs. Christine Lopopolo and Heidi Sungurlu felt their impact on individual health was waning, even as they climbed the ladder of leadership.<\/p>\n
Between growing staffing inconsistencies, more hours spent on administrative paperwork vs. one-on-one patient time, and the county\u2019s rural Medicare designation<\/a> \u2014 which keeps Medicare reimbursement rates low, driving some doctors away \u2014 Lopopolo and Sungurlu began to feel the strain of working in the traditional hospital system.<\/p>\n The doctors, both specialists in gynecology, served San Luis Obispo County residents first as physicians, then as department chairs through the Adventist Health system, but even as their administrative responsibilities grew, they realized that their skills could be better used elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are just unhealthier, whether it\u2019s food or environment that affects them, and so when I started feeling some of the pulls of being in big corporate medicine, I had to look at what was going to work better for me personally, so I could provide the kind of care that\u2019s congruent with who I am,\u201d Lopopolo said. \u201cI like people, and I like to talk to them and get to know them, and I couldn\u2019t do that in a 15-minute appointment, so (I was) kind of pulled to this different style of medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Their answer? To leave corporate healthcare and establish their own clinic operating under the MDVIP<\/a> healthcare umbrella, a company that operates using a \u201cpersonalized primary care\u201d model.<\/p>\n Under this model, Lopopolo and Sungurlu say they\u2019ve been able to build stronger relationships with their clients and spend more time on individual visits, while providing a more comprehensive approach to tackling their patients\u2019 health issues.<\/p>\n While they have started serving all patients regardless of gender, their primary area of expertise is in women\u2019s health \u2014 and their new model makes it easier to apply that expertise, Sungurlu said.<\/p>\n \u201cA better model is to have the gynecologist provide the primary care aspect anyway, because there are times where a woman\u2019s symptoms are, although not gynecologic in symptomology, sometimes a hormonal (imbalance) is related, and so the primary care providers that they were seeing weren\u2019t really aware of it,\u201d Sungurlu said. \u201cI feel like our relationships with our patients often are closer than the average primary care provider, maybe because of all the years of doing obstetrics with them, and you get to know them really well.\u201d<\/p>\n Though MDVIP does not specifically refer to its model as concierge medicine \u2014 instead saying on its website<\/a> that it \u201coffers concierge benefits but isn\u2019t concierge\u201d \u2014 it bears plenty of similarities, with some added benefits.<\/p>\n Concierge medical practices charge annual or monthly fees in exchange for providing a host of services and benefits for patients.<\/p>\n \u201cWith MDVIP, the annual membership fee is tied to a specific deliverable: the MDVIP Annual Wellness Program, a 90-minute executive-style physical tailored to each patient\u2019s age, history, and health concerns,\u201d a spokesperson for the company said in an email. \u201cIt includes advanced labs, diagnostics, and screenings that go well beyond a standard annual physical \u2014 covering areas such as heart health, bone density, diabetes risk, brain health, sleep quality, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients of concierge practices can expect shorter waits for appointments, longer visits and access to more specialized services, according to a December 2025 study by Johns Hopkins University<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a model that has exploded in popularity in recent years.<\/p>\n Between 2018 and 2023, the number of concierge and primary care practices skyrocketed by 83.1% from an estimated 1,658 practices to 3,036, expanding from an estimated 3,935 clinicians to 7,021 over that timeframe, according to the Johns Hopkins study.<\/p>\n Lopopolo and Sungurlu\u2019s San Luis Obispo clinic, ThriveWell Women\u2019s Health<\/a>, charges the standard MDVIP fees: $675 for quarterly payments, $1,350 for semi-annual payments or $2,700 for annual payments, according to MDVIP\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lopopolo said the new clinic was able to accommodate longer visits, which can run as long as around an hour, by cutting down the administrative paperwork and note-taking that dominates much of the day-to-day schedules of primary care physicians.<\/p>\n Part of that comes down to simple changes such as going all-electronic with paperwork and leaving the note-taking to AI, Lopopolo said. The doctors also chose to drop obstetrics from their care, as the unpredictable nature of pregnancy proved disruptive to providing responsive, comprehensive primary care, Sungurlu said.<\/p>\n All told, it\u2019s typical for a doctor in a healthcare system like Adventist Health to have a panel of roughly 1500-2000 patients, whereas each doctor\u2019s panel is currently capped at 350, an MDVIP spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe used to see 30 patients a day, and do a surgery before office hours, and do a surgery at lunch,\u201d Lopopolo said. \u201cNow we see half that \u2014 maybe eight to 10 \u2014 so you have a longer time to spend with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike direct primary care \u2014 another model that circumvents the traditional primary care system by eschewing health insurance in favor of a flat rate paid monthly or annually for quick access to doctors \u2014 ThriveWell and other MDVIP clinics take payment from traditional health insurance and Medicare, Sungurlu said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fee our patients are paying for is a separate wellness preventative (program) that the insurance doesn\u2019t typically cover,\u201d Sungurlu said. \u201cAll the other services that we do, it\u2019s your traditional practice of medicine, and we bill insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n The doctors own their practice and can run it as they see fit, but they require their patients to participate in the MDVIP wellness and preventative programs \u201cbecause that\u2019s what complements the method of care we want to provide,\u201d Sungurlu said.<\/p>\n That wellness program involves looking at an individual\u2019s overall health through a variety of lenses, including nutrition, exercise routines, bone health and hormone replacement therapy, Sungurlu said.<\/p>\n It also includes advanced diagnostics to assist with cardiovascular health, stroke prevention, diabetes management, hearing, sleep quality, mobility, fitness, and emotional well-being, according to the clinic\u2019s website.<\/p>\n While their initial focus was on women\u2019s health, they\u2019ve started broadening their care to clients regardless of gender as word-of-mouth has spread.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to adapt quickly in medicine, yet a system can\u2019t adapt as quickly,\u201d Lopopolo said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s fun about being in our own practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Lopopolo said she understands why some people may have reservations about a model of care that involves higher costs, but most people are already paying for aspects of their health already outside of the conventional primary care system, whether it\u2019s Midi<\/a> \u2014 a virtual clinic focused on women\u2019s health \u2014 or other health-adjacent services.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, do I wish everyone had access to something like this \u2014 I mean, we all should,\u201d Sungurlu said. \u201cI think this is what we all need to advocate for when it comes to the future of medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople look at this as like, \u2018I\u2019m paying for my health, I\u2019m paying because I\u2019m paying for insurance,\u2019 but the insurance is deciding and dictating only this small strategy of medicine, and if you want to do more for your health, then it\u2019s going to have to be services outside of that, and that\u2019s the part that not a lot of people are aware of, and they don\u2019t realize that that\u2019s what we\u2019re actually doing here,\u201d Sungurlu continued. \u201cIt\u2019s not just paying at another cost for something that you already have.\u201d<\/p>\n Potential patients can reach ThriveWell for more information at 1223 Higuera St., Suite 203, via phone at 805-864-5330<\/a> or at thrivewellslo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related Stories from San Luis Obispo Tribune<\/p>\n Dr. Heidi Sungurlu and Dr. Christine Lopopolo pose for a photo in an exam room at their practice, ThriveWell Women’s Health, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Both doctors left the Adventist Health system late last year to pursue a more comprehensive way to practice primary care. Joan Lynch jlynch@thetribunenews.com Is MDVIP a concierge clinic?<\/p>\n
An exam room at ThriveWell Women’s Health, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Drs. Heidi Sungurlu and Christine Lopopolo left the Adventist Health system late last year to found ThriveWell and pursue a more comprehensive way to practice primary care. Joan Lynch jlynch@thetribunenews.com <\/p>\n
An exam room at ThriveWell Women’s Health, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Drs. Heidi Sungurlu and Christine Lopopolo left the Adventist Health system late last year to found ThriveWell and pursue a more comprehensive way to practice primary care. Joan Lynch jlynch@thetribunenews.com ThriveWell offers unique prevention, wellness benefits<\/p>\n
An exam room at ThriveWell Women’s Health, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Drs. Heidi Sungurlu and Christine Lopopolo left the Adventist Health system late last year to found ThriveWell and pursue a more comprehensive way to practice primary care. Joan Lynch jlynch@thetribunenews.com <\/p>\n