Grace Family Practice; Treating the whole family
After working in a large hospital in a bustling city, Millersburg offers a homey, relaxed environment, said Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP) Amanda Ellis, who recently became a provider at Grace Family Practice, a Christian-based, health care provider.
“I was born and raised in Washington County, Pennsylvania, a family-oriented farming community where the nearest Walmart is a half-hour away,” Ellis shared. “Millersburg feels like home. The patients have been awesome, the community has been welcoming, and I love the pace of life here.”
Ellis, who has been a registered nurse (RN) since 2006, did her clinicals at Grace Family Practice in 2018 in preparation for her CNP certification in 2019. As an RN, she has worked in the neonatal intensive care unit at Akron Children’s Hospital for 14 years. Coming back to Grace, she explained, gives her the opportunity to serve entire families. “I’ve always wanted to be able to treat the whole family as a unit,” she said. “I love to see children, but I also want to make sure that the family unit is intact and that Mom and Dad are able to care for the kids, and that Mom and Dad also are being cared for at the same time. You don’t get that if you only see adults or if you only see children.”
“It’s definitely been a change in mindset to inlcude natural modalities, like vitamins and minerals and thinking outside the box to help yourself stay healthy with food and supplements,” said Ellis, who has five children and a four-month old granddaughter. “There are situations where medications are beneficial and necessary, but I generally prefer that my own children do not take synthetic drugs. If we can keep ourselves healthy doing natural things daily, then that prevents long-term care issues.”
Grace Family Practice’s services include:
• Full family health;
• Ohio Department of Transportation physicals;
• Drug testing;
• Midwifery;
• Hormone replacement therapy.
“We treat all conditions, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, including natural supplements as well as medications like statin therapies for cholesterol,” Ellis said.
Ellis and Grace practitioner Debra Beachy, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), specialize in Bio Identical hormone replacement therapy.
“Men and women alike find that hormone replacement therapy gives them an increase in vitality, their personal lives improve, they’re less irritable and women have fewer hot flashes during the change of life,” Ellis explains. “The Bio Identical replacemnet therapy uses hormones with the same molecular structure as the estrogen and testosterone hormones that we produce naturally in our body, so there isn’t that synthetic material being put into our bodies. The patients really love it.”
The therapy, she said, is individualized — each patient is tested to determine which hormones he or she needs.
The quiet, tension-free atmosphere at Grace Family Practice, Ellis said, is conducive to healing and wellness.
“When there’s less stress in the office, patients respond positively and they’re able to open up and discuss tough health concerns when they feel safe and secure in their environment,” Ellis said. “Grace Family Practice is like a family. We know each other and we’re comfortable with each other. Even when I was a student here, they welcomed me as part of the family. My patients also teach me new things every day. It’s very much a partnership to keep them as healthy as possible, and it’s gratifying that they are providing me an opportunity to share in their life.”
Grace Family Practice offers Telehealth consultations as well as in-person visits and accepts most insurance plans. The office is located at 7368 County Road 623, Unit B, in Millersburg. You can schedule an appointment by calling 330-473-6314, or learn more by visiting GraceFamilyPractic.wixsite.com.