Promoting wellness one patient at a time

Promoting wellness one patient at a time

by Eric A Thomas

Today, most medical providers are focused on illness. Think about really focusing on keeping yourself well to avoid that illness in the first place, though. Think about that concept. A local family nurse practitioner wants to help the citizens in this area change their mindsets.

Katie O’Neil, a Jacksonville native, established Jacksonville Wellness in June 2021. Her office is in Suite D of the Fitness World Complex at 1521 W. Walnut St., sharing space with Dr. Lyell of ProActive Chiropractic. She brings with her over 20 years of experience as a nurse and 15 years of experience as a nurse practitioner. Her professional interests includes internal medicine, endocrinology, autoimmune disease, nutrition, bioidentical hormones, adrenal fatigue, and MTHFR (or Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, which is an enzyme that breaks down the amino acid homocysteine) mutations and treatment.

In 2014, O’Neil started attending national conferences on functional medicine. She formally began her education in this field in 2015, pursuing a fellowship in anti-aging, metabolic and functional medicine. “One of the first considerations when trying to get a person well is looking at their nutrition and dietary intake … because those factors will affect everything else,” she remarked. Often, she sees patients who are overweight but undernourished. Getting a person off processed foods and onto whole foods is a must. Processed foods can cause inflammation. Sugar intake can be very detrimental to our health and depletes our body of micronutrients, she says.

Another thing on which she focuses is stress levels. “As a society, we are stressed out to the max, so you have to look at stress and management of that as it relates to disease,” O’Neil added. Society has reached an epidemic of diseases. Cardiovascular disease remained the number one killer in the U.S. last year. It was followed by cancer, while diabetes and autoimmune disease numbers remain at all-time highs.

In her advanced training, she has learned about salivary hormone testing. “With that, I am looking at the body’s bioavailable hormone levels [DHEA, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone] … The goal is to optimize the patient to their personal best. This is the key to anti-aging,” she continued. Another key to health that she looks at is the microbiome. Up to 70% of the body’s immune system lies in the gut.

“If there is one thing that I would encourage the general population to do, it’s quit drinking soda. High fructose corn syrup and/or sweeteners are two of the worst ingredients that you can drink that negatively affect gut biodiversity and health,” O’Neil concluded.

Two keys to her practice are spending time with each patient and acknowledging that the appointments are patient led. The patient intake form gives them the chance to let her know what their overall goal is for the visit. The initial consultation usually lasts an hour with a 2- to 3-week follow-up for complex issues.

O’Neil graduated from MacMurray College in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and then from Western Carolina University in 2006 with a master’s degree in nursing. She became board certified in family practice in 2007 and moved back to Jacksonville in 2010. She has held positions in family practice, geriatrics, wound care, dermatology and public health. She has advanced training in anti-aging, metabolic and functional medicine with the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. She completed her fellowship studies in 2019 and was not only one of the first nurse practitioners to apply for but was also then granted “Full Practice Authority” by the State of Illinois. This allows her to practice independently under the exclusive advanced licensure of the state, nursing board and Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.

Jacksonville Wellness is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Tuesday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Thursday or weekends by appointment. O’Neil sees patients 18 years of age and older. Insurance is not accepted, but you can receive a bill (diagnosis/billing code) to turn into your insurance for reimbursement. Payment is expected at time of service. Her website, jacksonvillewellness.net, has a list of all charges. O’Neil is accepting new patients; schedule a visit by calling the office at 217-279-5815 or by visiting the website.

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