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Tired Of Seeing Doctor After Doctor,

 And Still Not Feeling Better?

Have you been dealing with chronic health issues seemingly forever?

Do feel like you’ve literally “tried everything” and are tired of seeing provider after provider, and yet still not feeling any better?

Or maybe you just wish you felt as energized as you used to a few years back?

We see this all the time – people just like you who have been from doctor to doctor… yet not getting the answers why they aren’t feeling right.

And we want you to know that healing is possible… when you partner with the right provider that’s asking the right questions – so that you can finally get to the root of what is causing your symptoms. We can help pinpoint the specific imbalances that need to be addressed to get you on the path to healing and living a vibrant life you deserve.

Yet this type of approach is not commonplace, and that’s likely the reason why you may have struggled needlessly… until now.

When you partner with our team, we will create a personalized treatment plan incorporating advanced testing, cutting edge nutritional science, lifestyle modifications, along with any traditional medical support or care you've already received to restore your body’s innate healing potential.

Rather than matching symptoms with a diagnosis in a short visit, our in-depth evaluation, and advanced lab testing will give us a much more complete picture of what triggered your specific physiological imbalances that caused your symptoms in the first place.

After, we can design a custom-tailored plan to address the root cause instead of managing (or covering up) your symptoms. There are a number of chronic conditions that benefit from this type of approach including gut and hormonal imbalances, autoimmune, cardiometabolic conditions and more.

Focus Areas

The conditions treated are not limited to these, as the scope of medicine is broad, but these are some of the most common conditions seen and treated by our care team at Advanced Metabolic & Functional Medicine:

Gut Health

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Bloating, heartburn, gassiness, irregular bowel movements

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Small-Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

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Irritable Bowel Disease (IBS)

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

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Gluten Sensitivity & Celiac Disease

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Candidiasis

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Leaky Gut

Environmental

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Mold/mycotoxins

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Heavy Metal Toxicity

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Lyme and other tick-borne diseases

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Pesticide and Chemicals Toxicity

Autoimmune

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Hashimoto’s

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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

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Celiac Disease

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Lupus

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Psoriasis

Detox & Cellular Health

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Brain Fog

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Cognitive decline

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Neurodegeneration

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Headaches

Longevity & Wellness Optimization

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Cardiometabolic risk assessment and management

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Inflammation support

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Personalized diet & lifestyle, & mind-body support

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Targeted medications and supplements

Weight Management

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Functional testing to uncover cause(s) of resistance to weight loss or gain

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Personalized diet & lifestyle, & mind-body support

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Targeted medications and supplements

Hormone Imbalances

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Perimenopause

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Menopause

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Andropause

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Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy

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Adrenal/Thyroid support

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Fertility Issues

At MorningStar Family Health Center, you’ll be partnering with a world-class care team of physicians, health coaches, & nutritionists to ensure an effective transformation toward functional health.

As such, our Functional Medicine approach under the guidance of Dr. Jean Golden-Tevald is based on the following:

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Metabolic processes of each individual should be understood at the cellular level; knowing how each person’s genes and environment interact to create their unique biochemical phenotype

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Functional Medicine treatment seeks to influence biochemical pathways “upstream” and prevent overproduction of damaging end products such as inflammation

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Using a broad range of interventions to achieve optimal health including diet, nutrition, exercise and movement; stress management; sleep and rest; nutraceutical and pharmaceutical supplementation

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Using a structured process such as a “Timeline” to uncover significant life events of each practice member’s history to gain a better understanding of who they are as an individual. This approach ensures that the practice member is heard, nurtures a therapeutic relationship and collaboration between the practice member and the physician.

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Functional Medicine uses systems biology to identify how core imbalances in a specific organ or system can manifest in other parts of your body.

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Functional Medicine practitioners work with the practice member to find the most appropriate and acceptable treatment plan to correct, balance, and optimize the fundamental underlying issues in the realms of mind, body, and spirit.

Why Partner With A Functional Medicine Practitioner?

Caring for your health properly is so much more than just the basics of eating right and exercising. With current medical research, we have discovered that the body is a complex collection of organs and systems and even bacterial colonies (the microbiome) that greatly impact each other. The body is a collection of complex systems and when one of those systems like your hormones, gut or cellular health is off you'll experience symptoms & chronic illness.

When you are healthy, all the organs and systems work together like a symphony in perfect harmony. But when one of these systems is off-balance, the whole symphony is out of tune! When you need a “tune-up” so to speak, not only do you need to look at areas that aren’t working right but also be sure everything is balanced with the rest of your body.

"Why have I been struggling with my health even after seeing several doctors? " you may be asking yourself. The truth is not all practitioners offer the same depth of care or have the same kinds of training. Often they aren't taking systems approach because they may not have the specific training and are more adept at acute care trying to treat illness in a limited way. So in order to treat chronic illness or improve longevity, a system's approach is necessary

At our practice, we follow a more modern “primary care through a functional medicine lense” approach that does advanced testing, uses a systems approach to understand root causes as well as up-to-date nutritional science to help you rebalance and finally heal. This in-depth approach is the only successful way of treating chronic illness because most chronic illnesses has multiple causes and may impact multiple organs and systems at once. At times we may also use therapies or conventional medical treatments based on individual need.

Instead of simply addressing different symptoms across separate areas, we seek to treat the underlying root cause and various systems of the body – while looking at lifestyle factors such as diet, environment, emotional health, and mindset that usually brings on the illness practice members are seeking to heal.

Our

Wellness Programs

Initial Visit

75-Minute Consultation to review past labs, history and craft a personalized treatment plan.

$299

Review labs & past medical history

 

Explore current health challenges & goals

 

Determine need for advanced lab tests

  

Craft a personalized treatment approach

 

Prioritize fast symptom relief

 

Health Reboot

4-Month Intensive to resolve long-standing health & wellness issues once and for all.

$399 per month

Includes 4 monthly extended visits

 

Four 10-minute phone check-ins

 

Access to advanced testing (additional cost)

 

Lab interpretation included

 

Customized supplement plan (supplements not included)

 

Optimization

A monthly Health Optimization membership to work on select issues for optimal health.

$299 per month

Includes 1 extended visit each month

 

Covering lifestyle, nutrition & emotional components, as well as personalized exercise program

 

Customized supplement plan (supplements not included)

 

Additional visits at discounted rate

 

Success Stories

“I Finally Feel Myself Again! Thank You!”

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“I Feel Like A Whole New Person”

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“My Life Has Been Transformed"

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Frequently

Asked Questions

Scheduling & Visits

What Are The Restrictions On Virtual Doctor's Visits?

If you are NOT a New Jersey resident, your initial visit at MorningStar Family Health Center must be in person. After the first visit, all follow up visits can be conducted by phone or virtually using our secure video channel if you choose.Please be aware that Functional Medicine is not a covered service by insurances. We also require the appropriate Informed Consent Form regarding HIPAA laws.

Practice member Portal Etiquette

Many practices limit the opportunity to move forward with your healthcare between visits. At MorningStar Family Health Center, we believe that there is a better approach that will allow you more timely access to ongoing care. For instance, between visits, it is sometimes beneficial to evaluate new clinical data, interact with other members of your care team, and/or make adjustments to your current protocol.

Since this service consumes a significant amount of time for members of our clinical team, it is not viable to perform it without some remuneration. In order to be able to provide the benefit, we are implementing a system that allows us to be compensated for some of the time we spend directly on your care between visits.

We feel this is a great value for most of our practice members, and our “mini-retainer” allows us to provide this service, at a discounted rate, rather than forcing you to wait for a visit which will generally require a delay to schedule and will end up generating a higher cost to you.

The mini-retainer allows us to work for your benefit sooner and in smaller time blocks that we can charge at a lower rate than an in-person visit.

If you do not wish to purchase a mini-retainer, you may opt to:
1. Pay for care between visits at a higher fee to cover the cost of charging you for each episode.
2. Wait until the next visit to continue your care.

Please note that simple clarifications and answers to very brief questions stemming from recent protocols are complimentary. Our providers and clinical staff reserve to assess appropriateness of charges. If a portal question or request is deemed by one of our staff to be too complicated or involved for a response via portal they may, at their discretion, require that the member schedule a phone, telemedicine or in person visit instead of responding via portal.

Scheduling & Cancellations

Cancellations or changes of the initial, extended, visit will be subject to forfeiture of deposit: 100 percent within 5 business days. Initial practitioner’s visits are subject to a cancellation fee of $200. MorningStar Family Health Center requires 72 hours advance notice for a change or cancellation before a follow-up appointment. If less than 72 hours in advance is provided, there will be a cancellation fee. Our cancellation fee for a practitioner follow up visit is $75.

Consultation Deposit: Due to the high volume of practice members seeking appointments with Dr. Golden-Tevald, a non-refundable appointment deposit will be required to secure a Functional Medicine consultation. If more than 30 days notice is given, the staff may use discretion in applying the deposit to an alternative date.

Billing & Insurance

We Are Not A Conventional Primary Care Physician

While you can message us online during business hours, please see your PCP to take care of acute requests. Please also be advised that:

  • We do not fulfill an insurance company’s requirement for an in network primary care physician as we are not in-network with any insurance plan.
  • We will make every effort to make you fully aware of any additional lab fees that may be incurred and to give you the opportunity to choose which lab tests you feel comfortable paying for.
  • We do not have a 24-hour answering service and do not take calls on weekends. If you need to be seen urgently or have a medical emergency you would need to visit an ER or urgent care center.

We Do Not Bill Insurance Companies

The cost of any services provided by MorningStar Family Health Center which are not included in the episode of care fee will be billed to you directly.

Non-MorningStar Family Health Center medical expenses such as lab tests and prescription medications may be covered by a member’s health insurance plan per that plan’s rules.

MorningStar Family Health Center will not submit a medical claim to insurance on your behalf. We cannot assist you with claim resolution for our services.

We will provide you with a detailed billing summary that you may submit to your insurance for reimbursement. There may be procedures or lab tests that are not covered depending on your plan’s rules.

About Lab Tests

  • Most lab tests ordered by a MorningStar Family Health Center physician will be billed directly to your insurance by the lab.
  • Some lab tests we offer as part of our functional medicine testing program may not be covered by insurance and in these cases you will be charged a fee for a particular test by the lab or through MorningStar Family Health Center.
  • The specific tests ordered will be personalized to you based on your initial evaluation with an MorningStar Family Health Center doctor and may include blood saliva urine or stool testing.
  • We will make every effort to make you fully aware of any additional lab fees that may be incurred and to give you the opportunity to choose which lab tests you feel comfortable paying for.
  • You are under no obligation to purchase any specialty testing.
  • Should any lab results indicate you may need further testing you will be directed to continue your care with your primary care physician or a relevant specialist, or should you choose you may continue to work with your MorningStar Family Health Center physician.
  • At home test kits: If a lab test kit is mailed to you by MorningStar Family Health Center, you will be charged the day the kit is mailed.
  • If your particular insurance company only pays for blood work done at a particular lab facility like LabCorp, you must inform us of this in advance of having blood work done. Most insurance plans cover labs done by major national labs.

Is This Program Right For Me?

If you’re tired of shuffling from doctor to doctor without ever getting to the root of your chronic health issues, and if you want to optimize your health holistically through sound lifestyle modifications, advanced lab testing and mind-body techniques without unnecessary medications, then our program may just be what you’ve been looking for all along. Just know that it takes a serious commitment to make the lifestyle changes necessary to transform your health once and for all.

What Should I Expect From My Discovery Call?

During the free discovery call, we’ll determine whether partnering with our team is the best next step for you. We’ll go over any questions you may have about our approach, and how it differs from what you’ve tried before – so you feel comfortable about the journey ahead.

What Should I Expect From The Initial Appointment?

Ahead of the initial paid appointment, you will complete our extensive background history forms so that we can properly review your history and lab results ahead of your appointment. During the appointment, we will together review your completed intake form, medical history, current, and past lab tests – as well as any medications taken, so that we can arrive at a baseline assessment of your overall health and nutritional status. If needed, we may decide on more advanced lab tests to confirm (or rule out) a specific diagnosis, so we can create a personalized treatment protocol.

Our team at MorningStar Family Health Center strives to provide you with the most effective and medically advanced techniques available. We are here for you… to help you finally reach your desired health goals.

When we speak over the phone, we’ll assess whether this program is right for you… and answer any questions you may have. Simply pick a time and date that works best for you!

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Areas Served


MorningStar Family Health Center serves practice members throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania with options for follow-up telemedicine appointments after an inpatient appointment for practice members outside of those states.