DPC Expands in Madison, Wisconsin Area

Isthmus wrote an article about the ever-expanding world of DPC in the Madison, Wisconsin area. Let’s give you a quick rundown.

Dr. Nicole Hemkes opened a solo practice called Advocate MD in Middleton in 2019. This year, Hemkes opened her third Madison area-clinic, in Fitchburg. The original Advocate MD office in Middleton Hills and a second on Fair Oaks Avenue are also joined by a fourth clinic in Janesville. Hemkes now has five more doctors working with her in the practice.

Even more today than five years ago, people are unhappy with their health care experience. The insurance keeps getting more expensive, and the care you actually receive goes down. That’s where direct primary care steps in.

Dr. Wendy Molaska, opened Dedicated Family Care in Fitchburg in 2021. Her practice now includes a nurse (who is also a certified medical interpreter) and a medical assistant/receptionist (who is also a nurse in training). Now, Molaska is about to hire an assistant who will work remotely on the administrative end. She’s also looking to hire a second physician. Her practice is full and she has a waiting list.

Before opening Dedicated Family Care, I was on the verge of quitting healthcare altogether. Most people call it ‘burnout.’ I prefer the term ‘moral injury,’ because it implies that it’s the system that is broken — and I really believe our healthcare system is broken. 

Dr. Amanda Preimesberger opened her direct primary care practice, rootsMD, in Verona in 2021; in 2023 the clinic added a second practitioner,  Dr. Traese Kuhl.

Our Lady of Hope is a faith-based direct primary care clinic in Middleton.

And this year Dr. Angela Marchant opened Tallgrass Osteopathic Family Medicine, integrative medicine on the direct primary care model.

As direct primary care has grown in Wisconsin, so has direct specialty care.

MH Imaging, an independent radiology facility, opened in Middleton; another, Smart Scan Medical Imaging, is also in Middleton. 

The Orthopedic & Spine Centers of Wisconsin, comprised of a dozen doctors who left other local health care systems, opened in 2023.

 Solstice Health, a direct primary care practice that started in 2012 now also has a surgery center.

Businesses in the area are more interested in figuring out ways to help their employees opt in to this care model, both to improve access to doctors and to save money themselves. Dr. Hemke reports that:

Five years ago, very few people had heard of direct primary care. Now businesses are coming to us.