BENTONVILLE -- People should tell their doctors their fondest dreams instead of their current aches, pains and problems, according to those launching the new Whole Health Institute in Bentonville.
The American health care system needs a goal and an aspiration too, institute founder Alice Walton told the Northwest Council. "It's a disease care system not health care system," she said. The current system reacts to health problems when they arise, she said. The result is a nation first in health care spending and 37th in life expectancy, she said.
Walton announced Wednesday that Dr. Tracy Gaudet, formerly of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will lead a new institute with the mission of changing the approach to health care nationwide. Gaudet will bring in a team to refine, implement and then expand a more dynamic, motivated approach to health care, Walton and the doctor told an audience of about 180 at a meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Schedules, locations, costs and other details about the new institute will be revealed later, Gaudet said.
The council is a group of top business, government and education leaders in the region. The group held its winter meeting Wednesday at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. Walton, who is a Walmart heir, founded the museum, is the chairwoman of the museum's board and board member of the Walton Family Foundation. She is also a past president of the council, its first president.
The full title of the new institution is the Whole Health Institute and Chopra Library, Walton told the group. Dr. Deepak Chopra is a philanthropist, doctor and longtime advocate of such goal-oriented approaches to health who held his "Sages and Scientists 2019 Symposium" at Crystal Bridges in November.
"Chronic conditions account for 75% of all U.S. health care costs," Walton said. These conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and others, could be prevented or mitigated by changing behaviors, Walton said. Her hope is the institute will lead to better lifestyles in Northwest Arkansas and, from there, spread to the rest of the United States, she said.
To illustrate the institute's approach, Gaudet told the story of a patient of another doctor with a chronic health condition, treated for years. The patient, who Gaudet didn't name, heard Gaudet talk about taking a more active, goal-oriented approach. The patient then told her doctor she wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, a 19,341-foot peak in Africa, in two years.
The change in goal was no miracle cure, Gaudet told the audience. It took a disciplined course of treatment and a lot of hard work to meet such an ambitious, specific goal -- but the goal was met. The patient's health also improved greatly, according to Gaudet.
Gaudet brought more to Wednesday's meeting than anecdotal stories of mountain climbing. She and team members Amanda Hull and Dr. James Marzolf presented findings from their use of similar approaches while Gaudet was the Veterans Department's National Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation.
Department patients in the "whole health" program showed a 24.4% reduction in costs in a year compared to a 6% increase for the department's patients overall, according to findings presented by Marzolf.
Cooperation with local health care institutions and providers will be vital, she said. So will cooperating with local businesses that have their own insurance plans covering their employees, she said.
Besides better well-being for people, national and economic interest demands changes, Gaudet told the group in closing remarks: "We will no longer be globally competitive if we don't get control of health care costs."
Kelvin Parks, director of the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, vouched for Gaudet's approach. He met Gaudet in 2010 in Chicago while he was working for the Veterans Affairs Department there, he said. Gaudet's approach worked for patients there, is working in the Ozarks system now and the same principles worked for him: "I had a daughter who was getting married and a goal of walking her down the aisle without a limp after surgery. I told my doctor I wanted to do that and that was our goal. I wanted people to see her, not me limping." Parks attended Wednesday's council meeting.
The council also heard an update on Walmart's plans for a new campus headquarters in downtown Bentonville from Dan Bartlett, the company's executive vice president of corporate affairs. Raymond Burns, president of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, said after the meeting it was notable Walmart's plans for a more open headquarters with the Razorback Regional Greenway trail running through it followed many of the same themes the wellness center would try to promote. The greenway is a walking and biking trail stretching more than 36 miles from Fayetteville to Bentonville and into Bella Vista. It, too, is an example of the healthier lifestyle the region is embracing, Burns said.
Walmart seeks more of a college campus feel with its headquarters instead of a corporate capital, Bartlett told the group. The company also never considered moving its headquarters anywhere else, he said: "We never considered leaving."
Former state Sen. John Brown of Siloam Springs said after the meeting Walmart's loyalty to the community is shared by many local companies and people, making it one of the best things about representing the region in the Legislature. "Apple Inc. had a national competition for a headquarters," Brown said. "Walmart knows where home's at."
NW News on 01/16/2020