Emerge MediSpa & Wellness Center works with clients on various needs
By Jessica Brown
When Emerge MediSpa & Wellness Center opened in Jacksonville in 2022, owner Mischaela Aring knew she and her staff would be practicing the impractical.
“I was a nurse practitioner at an urgent care center in 2017 and initially, I hadn’t even considered doing something different,” she says. After treating patients there, she made the decision to transition into less traditional methods.
Aring studied for her bachelor’s degree in nursing after attending Western Illinois University for two years, then transferring to St. John’s College of Nursing. She says she obtained her certification as nurse practitioner after completing her education at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
Everything done at her practice is medically based. “We do everything from microneedling [to] laser hair removal and medical grade chemical peels.” In addition, the center provides facials, hair waxing, lash lifts and brow tints utilizing the skills of a certified nurse anesthetist.
Aring says the area she focuses on the most isn’t topical, however. “I do mostly male and female hormone replacement and weight loss therapy,” Aring shares.
Although her practice offers cosmetic treatments, she says she feels helping clients find balance for their hormonal issues is key. “I enjoy the other aspects but for me, that is the most important,” says Aring.
“I don’t pretend to be a doctor,” she emphasizes. “I can act as a primary caregiver for clients though.”
She says she makes sure to work in conjunction with a person’s other practitioners, such as primary care doctors or gynecologists. Aring says, “What I use from a person’s other providers are things like test results from personal female health documentation, to see if there are any abnormalities from those sorts of areas.”
“The majority of what I do goes off of what a patient tells me,” she says, adding that it is more about what a client tells her about how they are feeling.
A patient expressing being extremely tired although having adequate rest can be attributed to other things. “We do an extensive blood panel so we can pinpoint where the problem may be,” says Aring.
Lab work has produced results that cannot be addressed by the type of treatments she offers. “I’ve referred people to hematologists because of irregular blood levels or to an endocrinologist because it was revealed a person had Graves’ disease,” she notes.
Aring says she wants to get the word out about the kind of services her center provides and to assure potential clients that she is more than competent to help them.
“I’m a full practice nurse practitioner and I’ve taken numerous courses on this area of care,” she explains. Some of the courses include a functional medicine course along with other classes involving hormonal treatment.
“It can be common for patients to not get adequate information about this kind of treatment because general practitioners may not offer it,” Aring states, adding that primary care doctors practice differently than she does. She says it is possible that even gynecologic providers may not provide some treatments.
Whether it be females seeking relief from symptoms of perimenopause/menopause or men who are seeking to ward off their own issues related to aging, she hopes Emerge can provide the answers they are looking for — especially those who are experiencing a drop in hormones like testosterone, which happens to both men and women.
Lack of information about the quality of hormone therapy is not the only reason many might avoid it. “A lot of people think it’s expensive, but it’s really not in comparison,” Aring states.
“If a male needs testosterone replacement, insurance can be much more difficult to deal with than for women,” she shares, adding that a female who needs a level adjusted could face roadblocks as well. According to Aring, patients can often get a blood count done at Emerge for about $75 less than one with less accuracy done at a general medical facility.
Price issues are just one reason Aring says her practice doesn’t accept insurance.
“My services are all based on membership. … I evaluate what the person’s lab work looks like and if it’s appropriate, we make a treatment plan,” she says, adding that memberships also include monthly visits to manage care and adjust things as necessary.
Membership fees can range from $100 to $150 per month, which includes those visits with Aring.
With self pay, the flexibility she’s allowed when treating patients just encourages her stance on insurance. “I don’t have to follow those guidelines,” she adds, saying that it prevents roadblocks because of coverage issues.
“I don’t want insurance to dictate how I treat my patients.” Aring says the blood panels she tests for look for 15 different issues and costs $215 out of pocket versus $300 for a routine CBC that looks for less information.
She says having hormone treatment information is beneficial for all people, so if a person has symptoms or reaches a particular age, they have more options.
For more information about Emerge MediSpa & Wellness Center or to schedule, visit emerge-medispa.com or call 217-271-7858. Emerge MediSpa & Wellness Center is located at 1515 W. Walnut St., Suite 3A in Jacksonville.
