Sanctuary Medical Care and Consulting ~ Dr. Eric Potter

Biblical Economics of Healthcare
by Dr. Eric Potter

Sanctuary Medical Care and Consulting offers hope through Biblically Wholistic Direct Pay Care. The primary practical goal of Sanctuary Medical is to apply Biblically Wholistic care to each patient it encounters. This means taking sufficient time to assess and address not only the physical aspects of illness, but also the spiritual, emotional, and relational aspects of the illness as well.  By doing so,
the full scope and depth of suffering may find restoration and healing. Thirty minute to one hour visits over time allow a relationship of covenantal trust to develop as the physician comes to know the patient as a whole being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). (“Covenantal trust” refers to a relationship between patient and physician monitored by God so that a patient's best interests are kept in view.)  Furthermore, given sufficient time with patients, many costly tests may be avoided through old fashioned diagnosis. When the tests are necessary, they can often be arranged for more affordable prices.

Direct Pay Care, also known as Direct Primary Care, private medicine, or concierge medicine, grows across our nation as the best hope for restoration of trusting physician-patient relationships. However, it is only an economic model and thus will only go so far. It needs Biblically Wholistic Healthcare practiced by Christian physicians with a worldview shaped by the Bible if it is to bear 100-fold fruit.
 
On the other hand, Biblically Wholistic Healthcare needs Direct Pay Care in order to fully express itself. Fifteen minute visits every three or four months will never be sufficient to address a person as a whole being. Neither can a Christian physician properly care for the complex health issues faced by our increasingly stressed population. Chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, nutritional deficiencies, depression, toxic exposures, autoimmune syndromes, diabetes, and other debilitating illnesses require an approach practically impossible in the current system of short visits and multiple referrals. Without the time provided by Direct Primary Care, physicians must resort to more costly testing in order to find a diagnosis. These complexities require personalized care addressing the whole person by one who has taken the time to understand a Biblical view of health (seeing each person as a whole being created in the image of God and thus made for relationship with the Creator). Sanctuary Medical Care and Consulting brings this approach to bear on each patient's suffering, offering the best of conventional medicine combined with the best of God's natural remedies and delivering this care in one's own home through old-fashioned house call medicine.

Dr. Potter is married and has four wonderful children. Their family has been shaped by the many providential occurrences, including the beauty of adoption. Dr. Potter enjoys running, reading, Bible classes, and time with his family when he is not practicing medicine.

Dr. Potter is accepting new patients for integrative consults and enrolling patients for direct primary care. He can be reached by phone (615) 721-2001 or by email smcc [at] postpro [dot] net. Visit the Sanctuary Medical Care website here for more information.