Sommer White, MD, spent the beginning of her medical career working in a fast-paced emergency department after training in emergency medicine. But, over the years, she grew increasingly frustrated with the “Band-Aid” approach that runs rampant in healthcare today. Patching a wound, prescribing a pill, and sending patients on their way without addressing any root causes is the unfortunate reality for many patients.
Now, Dr. White has taken matters into her own hands by leaving a traditional healthcare practice in favor of a more holistic approach. The concept is called functional medicine — which targets the underlying cause of chronic conditions, focusing on lifestyle changes as opposed to perpetual pharmaceuticals.
“I was tired of the Band-Aid approach and people not being open to changing their diet and lifestyle to help chronic conditions,” Dr. White shares. “A lot of what we do now is an integrative functional medicine practice, so we really look to find the root cause of the disease and we use dietary and lifestyle changes to help people feel better.”
Most anyone interested in maintaining wellness is a candidate for treatment at Dr. White’s practice, Vitality Medical Wellness Center, though the team has seen exceptional results for those with chronic complex illnesses—Lyme disease, mold toxicity, viral infections, IBS, and much more. Alongside Dr. White at the practice are Elizabeth York, FNP-C, Hans Hinterkopf, PA-C, and Anne Laura Reviere, NP/RD.
In addition to diet and lifestyle changes, treatment options available at Vitality include bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, ozone therapy, medical weight loss, IV, neural, and peptide therapy, among others, as well as a collection of aesthetic services.
“We’ve added an aesthetics line that helps to rebuild the body, but also helps with improving the outward appearance,” Dr. White adds.
The state-of-the-art equipment and aesthetic treatment options at Vitality include full-body RF microneedling, non-invasive treatments that rebuild the bone, muscles, elastin, and collagen in the face, and body contouring that permanently dissolves fat cells and builds muscle. All aesthetic options are non-toxic, non-invasive, and have no downtime.
A passion project for the Vitality team revolves around all the sensitive, stigmatized problems that naturally occur with age or childbirth—things like incontinence, hormone imbalances, and changes in sexual function. Through things like pelvic floor therapy and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, Dr. White and her team help remedy these unspoken issues in a private (and often life-changing) way.
While service options are aplenty at Vitality, Dr. White maintains that food and diet are the most important components of wellness. The Vitality website includes a few recipe ideas to help incorporate whole foods into your routine.
“If you’re eating well, then it really is a foundation for health,” she adds. “We are generally recommending a whole foods diet with a lot of vegetables. I like to tell people to get a good variety of colors in their vegetables. As much variety as you can get helps your microbiome and helps your gut be healthier.”
Since opening around nine years ago, Dr. White has enjoyed helping patients overcome chronic conditions both in the Bellevue community and beyond, noting that patients travel from across the country for treatment (thanks in part to a viral TikTok of a patient sharing their healing journey). Bellevue is home for Dr. White, and you’ll often find her exploring the parks in town.
To learn more or to make an appointment, visit SommerWhiteMD.com.
“Traditional medicine is a dependent model. We want to give our patients the tools to be able to go out there and take care of themselves.”
“When I changed my diet and completely went into a whole food, mostly plant-based diet, I started to really feel the changes of what food can do.”