Black Business Spotlight: Arise Medical and Wellness

A “more personal touch” to healthcare

Dr Nana Wilmot D’Souza is the owner of Arise Medical and Wellness, now in its second year and growing successfully. Specialising in primary care and migrant health services, Arise Medical and Wellness is committed to providing comprehensive, compassionate care to the community. Dr Wilmot D’Souza (WD) currently employs a full-time team of three.

MSR: What inspired you to start your own business?

WD: Well, as a physician, I knew there was a better way to make healthcare not mass-produced, but personal, and make it more accessible to people like me, people who feel like they want a more personal touch to their healthcare, something special.

MSR: Tell us a bit about your practice.

WD: Our practice is centered around primary care and lifestyle medicine. I’m a board-certified family medicine and lifestyle medicine physician, which is a form of medicine that incorporates nutrition, exercise, relationships. You know, these are things that we don’t really think about, but they’re actually an important part of medicine.

– Advertisement –

We provide medical weight loss, nutrition, health coaching and refugee health care.

MSR: I read on your website that you do mission trips. Tell me about that.

WD: I started doing medical missions in college. I go to Honduras every year. There’s a hospital there called Jungle Hospital. The most amazing part is seeing the gratitude people have for me.

What we do out there is simple medicine, but it’s the most satisfying because we see a real, visible difference – and it’s a small change – and that’s what makes the most impact for me.

They have terrible pain in their backs and knees, and it’s also something as simple as Tylenol, and I give it to them and they’re so happy that someone gave them Tylenol, or, you know, they’re out in the sun a lot, so I’ll give them sunglasses to protect their eye health, or I’ll teach them how to eat better.

– Advertisement –

In other words, we are training them to use the resources they have to live better, healthier lives.

MSR: How does your business impact the community?

WD: Our business model is to let people know that we’re here for them, because a lot of times people go to these places and they’re not heard, so we want them to know that we’re here, that we listen to you, that we understand what you’re going through.

On the cultural side, I feel like cultural competence is what is most lacking in healthcare, and we can provide that in a unique way through our personal experiences.

MSR: What is your company’s main service or product?

– Advertisement –

WD: Immigrant healthcare is a big challenge because we have a huge number of immigrants in Minnesota and they’re often looking for places to get tested to get their green cards, so we do a lot of immigrant healthcare alongside our primary care. So those are the two big things that we do.

MSR: What has been your biggest challenge in running your own business?

WD: The hardest thing is resources: knowing who to contact, where to go, what to do. I think that’s the biggest hurdle for a small business compared to a larger health system, which has all the resources. But for us, every little thing matters.

MSR: What has been the most rewarding part of running your own business?

WD: It’s about changing people’s lives. I see people coming to me because I’m African-American or I’m of Kenyan descent, so they come to me. I speak their cultural language.

– Advertisement –

I’m fluent in Spanish, so people appreciate that. So when a diabetic has not had much success before, now we can say, “If you want to eat tacos, make them like this, make them like this, make them like that.” So that’s the most rewarding thing, because we can suck up what’s important and apply it to their life story so that it matters to them and we can change the trajectory of their health.

MSR: What is your vision and goals for your business? What does success look like to you?

WD: Our vision is to expand into multiple cities, so not just the Savage Lake area, but south Minneapolis and different neighborhoods, but most importantly, to provide culturally competent care wherever we are, and to do it with excellence and make sure we leave a blueprint for people to follow.

Arise Medical and Wellness is located at 7747 Eagan Drive, Suite 207, Savage, MN 55378. To contact Dr. Wilmot-DeSouza or learn more about services, please call 952-522-6344 or visit the website at www.arisewellnessmed.com.