Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Ep. 14 Making Moves in Healthcare and Life; from Military Service to Entrepreneur
Discover the future of healthcare with a promise of transformation as we welcome Priscilla Bullen, the visionary medical director of Sunshine Health DPC in Virginia Beach. Priscilla shares her innovative approach to patient care, blending direct primary care, aesthetics, and weight loss programs to revolutionize the traditional healthcare experience. Imagine having direct access to your healthcare provider with flexible appointments and rapid follow-ups—Priscilla is making this a reality. Whether you're seeking a VIP primary care experience or looking for solutions to chronic symptoms like fatigue and hair loss, Sunshine Health offers a comprehensive and personalized approach that prioritizes transparency and affordability.
Join us as we highlight the exciting launch of Sunshine Health DPC's new location at 1337 Oceana Boulevard, Suite 110, right in the heart of Virginia Beach. Priscilla talks about the joy of becoming a key part of the community, with the clinic's proximity to local landmarks like the commissary and Rudee Inlet. Her enthusiasm for fostering community connections is truly infectious, and her collaboration with local figures like Denise speaks volumes about the importance of building a close-knit environment. Don't miss the chance to learn how you can nominate your favorite local businesses for future features on the Good Neighbor Podcast by visiting gnpvirginiabeach.com.
Sunshine Health DPC
Priscilla Bullen
1337 Oceana Blvd
Virginia Beach, VA
www.sunshinehealthdpc.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Denise Taylor.
Speaker 2:Hello, today we have Priscilla Bullon, is that correct? Yes, bullon Bullon, medical Director of Sunshine Health here in Virginia Beach. Thanks for being here, priscilla. Can you tell us a little bit about your business?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely, denise, and thank you so much for having me on your podcast. Yes, I appreciate you and your company connecting our community. It's very important to have community connections, so thank you for that. So, to introduce everyone to Sunshine Health DPC Sunshine Health DPC is a very different. It's really one of the only types of medical practices in our community that includes all of the services we have, which is a direct primary care service. We have an aesthetic line and we also have a comprehensive weight loss program.
Speaker 3:So, to begin as far as, how did Sunshine Health DPC come about and what was the? I guess, what was the spark or what was the reason to even create Sunshine DPC? So this desire started with my you know my passion for medicine and my desire to just redefine patient care and the primary care model in it, specifically in our health care delivery system, which is currently fragmented. Right now, after observing all the like inefficiencies in our healthcare system people being rushed for their appointments, these long waiting times and again the fragmented care it just motivated me to create a different model of healthcare that prioritizes truly personalized care and provide transparency for patients and affordability. I love that.
Speaker 2:So where are you opening your clinic?
Speaker 3:So our clinic is under construction right now. It's being built out, but it will be at an Oceana Boulevard 1337, Oceana Boulevard, suite 110. You'll be able to see us right from the street. Good parking there, enough parking front and back. So we have a really nice 1,245 square foot space being built out right now.
Speaker 2:Tell me about your perfect avatar patient. What would they look like and what would they be seeking from you?
Speaker 3:So our perfect avatar patient could come in multiple different forms and I'll kind of lay it out in this way to make it easily understandable. So think of Sunshine Health as having three main avenues of health care, having three main avenues of healthcare, so we have our primary health, primary care, we have aesthetics, and then we have weight loss. But those all they all tie in together Absolutely, yes, absolutely. And so typically a patient who is, you know, traditional primary care patient, they would go to their, their GP or general prac for certain things, but they have issues with weight loss or what have you, so they have to go to a different clinic or practitioner and then, in the same sense, with aesthetics and anti aging, that kind of thing, have to kind of seek out a different clinic or practitioner, so you can have three different things going on at the same time. No one's talking to each other, so that can fragment care in itself. But at Sunshine Health, the perfect avatar patient could be from your semi, you know, healthy, just primary care patient that has the typical needs, let's say, and they really want more customized and that VIP service and care. They want to be able to have direct access to their provider when they have a question. So imagine when you go in for a visit and you try to put everything out in that visit and try to solve all your problems.
Speaker 3:Well, that never happens. Something is always forgotten. You always have a follow-up question. Typically in traditional models, when you have that follow-up question, it's almost impossible to get that answer, whether it's a simple answer or a simple question like am I supposed to take this medication with food? Should I take it in the morning and at night? I'm feeling a little dizzy with this medication, that sort of thing. So you have direct access. Your answers will be, you know, fulfilled immediately, basically within less than 24 hours, because you have that direct access with your provider, which is me. So that could be like your pretty healthy patient that is just looking for VIP service.
Speaker 2:So that means more than the 15-minute visit.
Speaker 3:That is the other great benefit to this model is that we don't have those constraints with visits. We give our patients the time that they need. So that's in office, but it's also outside of the office, as well, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2:What it's also outside of the office as well, that's fantastic. What do you mean outside of the office? They can get?
Speaker 3:in touch with you so text message, email, phone call many different routes to have instant access, that kind of thing. Of course, we have a secure patient portal as well to send messages or documents and things like that. But on the other end of the spectrum also, we serve patients such as chronic fatigue patients, patients that have these vague symptoms of my hair is falling out. I cannot lose weight, no matter what I do. All my hormones seem to be in check. As far as what my doctor has told me, I can't lose this weight. I feel horrible. This is not me, and those types of patients often seek care for more than a year, seeing different specialists going back to their primary care, and they are just so frustrated because they feel that no one can help them and something is wrong.
Speaker 2:They just they need help and they need an answer. I think you really, really stated it very strongly. The fragmented and frustration is what we're all feeling in in kind of this medical change, in in how people are approaching healthcare Exactly. If you could share with me some of the unique services you have, can you share one or two of those that our listeners would like more information about?
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely Absolutely. So just a couple of special things about each service I guess I can lay it out that way with the primary care service, and especially with patients dealing with kind of troublesome symptoms such as, you know, hypersomulants or excessive sleeping fatigue or joint pain and hair loss, that kind of thing, we do specialty testing, more than just your average hormonal panel test for metals, things of that nature, and we have ways to detox our patients or get those hormone levels back into play. And we're not talking about your typical check your thyroid, check, your cortisol. It's more in-depth analysis customized to that patient. So that would be something special. We could do with detoxifying, actually, either with foods Well, we always use, you know, food as medicine.
Speaker 3:We try to, you know, encourage that but we also have infusions that can detoxify or detox metals and things like that that patients might have a buildup Just from environmental and food sources. All of these things that we're exposed to on a daily basis. They do build up in our system. Unfortunately, this is how we live here in this nation, and so we're constantly, we are constantly exposed to toxins every which way. So that would be kind of a primary care example. That would be specialty. Now, on our weight loss service side, that is also a customized, personalized approach as well, Because when someone is having a lot of barriers or challenging time losing weight, there can be a million different reasons. So first of course we want to evaluate that. But let's say this is just coming down to a little bit of hormonal imbalance, which you know obviously can be, can be balanced, or an aging process. So we have different modalities that we can use. Whether it is our, we have these.
Speaker 3:I call them these fat burning injections. Yes, I do use GLP injections, but I also use things like somorelin or lipoic acid and other infusions to kind of help boost that metabolism. But my goal is to have that patient with me for the long run so they continue to be successful when these aggressive treatments are done Right. So our weight loss program has that very special niche to it, In addition to lipolysis. So I do these micro injections for little pockets of fat areas. I call it the brown fat, this kind of hormonal fat that just builds up and you can spend hours at the gym and you're where you want to be. But you're like, why can't I lose my love handles? They just won't go away. I'm like, okay, well, we have a solution for that and we can just inject that and just kind of melt that fat away.
Speaker 2:So you shared that you invested in a piece of equipment that's kind of new to the marketplace. That would be great for women, um, so I wanted you to share a little bit about that.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you, Denise, for mentioning that. That was going to be my next bullet point. So for my ladies, my leaky ladies, right, I have patients in their 20s to 80s that have problems with urination. There's statistics out there one in every four or five women have urinary problems, which I know. That's underreported, for sure, absolutely.
Speaker 3:But so, my leaky ladies, things like urinary incontinence, stress, incontinence, urge incontinence, overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis, all of these things can certainly be minimized or resolved with technology that we have at Sunshine Health. So we're talking no medication, no invasive procedures, non-invasive, done in office, less than an hour, and it's, you know, intravaginal type of procedures. But it is a game changer. And I'll tell you, denise, I am not only a provider for this technology, I'm also a patient. I'm 47 years old, I've had multiple births and I tell my ladies you don't have to live like this, you don't. This is not just the normal course of aging. You don't have to pee yourself when you run. You don't have to pee yourself when you run. You don't have to pee yourself when you cough or sneeze. And so in my journey, after being a patient myself, that's when I actually was completely passionate about this technology and I had to invest in it and that is one of my big, big campaigns is women's health, especially for urinary incontinence.
Speaker 2:And you know it's a huge general joke among women who've had children or even haven't had children. It just is one of those things that we all are trying to manage. So you know, it's it's positive to hear that you have a wonderful story in terms of your education and your service to our country. Can you share a little bit about that?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely Absolutely, denise. Thank you for asking. Can you share a little bit about that? Yes, absolutely Absolutely, denise. Thank you for asking.
Speaker 3:So I started as an Army nurse back in the 90s, right.
Speaker 3:So that was my intro to health care and it was just kind of serendipitous as far as my job choice in the military. But I know I wanted to join the military and I was very patriotic and, and you know, loyal to my country and so it started out that way and that in itself, the science of it, the love, the passion for helping people, just encourage my growth and continuing my education and my experiences to um serve patients as I do in this capacity to this day. So it was one of those things where I'm, you know, joining the military, I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I kind of fell into it and then it was really meant for me and it grew from there to the point where now I'm, you know, I have my own business and I'm managing, I'm doing healthcare the way I want to do it and the way I think it should be done and treat patients the way that they should be treated. So I'm very blessed, very thankful for that.
Speaker 2:So, beyond medicine, share with I'm going to allude to some other things going on in your life, because it all relates to the military Share with us. You know, outside of medicine, your family. I think you have two children that are also gone down that same path.
Speaker 3:Yes, so we're a family of six and we have four children. Two are serving our military right now and they were blessed to experience their education through Army West Point Military Academy and now serving as soldiers in the military. So we are just so proud and just so thankful that they have chosen that path. And then we have two that are still local and they took more of a creative path, you know. So we have a 19 year old who's into architecture and design, and then we have a musician who still lives at home. So she's our last one before we become empty nesters, I guess.
Speaker 2:Those Virginia share a little bit about why you decided to move to Virginia.
Speaker 3:Oh. So when the time was right. Well, we lived in Wisconsin before moving here, and Wisconsin is a beautiful place, but it is just very cold, very cold. So when the twins, the two eldest, were college bound, we said, all right, this is the time we got to make a move. What are we going to do? We kind of made a plan of attack and found a place with four seasons but not too drastic, near the beach, near the mountains, near military exposure, because my husband's retired army and I served 10 years so we wanted to have that military presence and Virginia Beach fit the bill. And we have been here almost 10 years and love it.
Speaker 2:We are so happy you're here. Please share with our listeners your website and, again, your location Absolutely.
Speaker 3:So Sunshine Health DPC. Our website is sunshinehealthdpc. com and our address is 1337 Oceana Boulevard, Suite 110, Virginia Beach, and we're right across from the commissary.
Speaker 2:It's a great location. It's between Rudee Inlet and Red Mill and you're pretty close to Even Great Next, so it's a great place to be. We're so excited that you're here. Thanks so much, priscilla Um look forward to working with you and in our in our community.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Denise, and again thank you for this opportunity and and and what you do for our community and keep our connections open. That's very important to have a close knit community. Thank you, Of course, I love it.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpvirginiabeach. com. That's gnpvirginiabeach. com, or call 757-797-8852.