Meet Dr. Kristin Oja, Founder of STAT Wellness, Mom to two daughters, Emery Hayes Oja (3 in October) and Letty Aary Oja (17 months), and Wife to Cameron Oja. Kristin shares below how she fell in love with Functional Medicine, why she founded STAT Wellness, a patient focused root cause approach to medicine, and what she loves about Peachtree City!
What is your Background? Tell us about your career.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always had the entrepreneurial spirit. I used to organize dance camps for the neighbors, choreograph a performance, and sell tickets for everyone to come see it. As I was in college studying to become a Nurse, I started teaching group fitness classes and thrived off of the high energy environment. After I graduated, I became a Registered Nurse in the ER Department of Gwinnett Medical. There, I saw so many patients that could benefit from simple lifestyle changes and a more patient-focused approach to medicine that I decided to get my Master’s of Science in Nursing, then eventually my Doctor of Nursing Practice. I was introduced to Functional Medicine during this time and fell in the love with the patient-focused root cause approach to medicine. Visits with your provider should be more conversational, longer in time, and dig down deep into patient history – I found that’s exactly what Functional Medicine provides. I then became certified through the Institute of Functional Medicine and eventually opened STAT Wellness in January of 2019 with the goal of helping patients become the absolute BEST version of themselves.
How did you decide on this Business?
Combining my background in medicine with my passion for fitness is what inspired me to create STAT Wellness– seeing positive patient outcomes, getting to the root cause of someone’s issues, and being patient-focused is what motivates me. After working at several other Integrative, Holistic, and Functional Medicine practices around Atlanta, I walked away with a few ideas on how to make this type of medicine more accessible to others. A few of my top takeaways that I built STAT Wellness on: 1) transparent pricing 2) spending time with your provider, not in the waiting room 3) ability to text/portal message our team 4) focusing on the root cause 5) doing diagnostic testing and supplements when needed, not as a standard process for everyone coming in the door 6) listening to our patients and making visits a conversation.
What is the best thing about your job?
Definitely the people, both my team and my patients. From a team perspective, I am honored every day that people choose to have a career at STAT and believe in our mission of transforming healthcare. From a patient perspective, I get to work with people that are curious and want to know what is going on in their body. I get to work in a space of medicine that truly cares about each person that walks in the door and wants to listen to their entire life story.
Also, I love that it is a family run business – my husband left his 11 year career in corporate America and joined STAT a year ago, and we enjoy having our girls spend time at the locations with the team.
What’s your favorite restaurant and/or place to shop in Peachtree City and/or surrounding areas? I love BeiRuit! Our friends (Christy and Tim Stout) took us here when we came to Peachtree City to look for a location to open STAT Wellness. It is amazing! We always order the Lebanese Style Supreme which is served family style and comes with a ton of food. We love it so much we got it catered for our Peachtree City Grand Opening Party!
I also just LOVE the golf cart paths and lakes around the city. There is something about a path and body of water that makes me so happy!
What TV show are you loving right now? Book? Movie? Podcast?
I just finished reading Outlive by Peter Attia, MD which is an excellent book on longevity. I also like the podcast the Doctor’s Farmacy. The movies we watch are mostly for the kids but we have been loving Monster’s Inc recently 😊
Is there anything else you would like to share with our Moms?
We are so excited to be in the Peachtree City area! As a mom of an almost 3-year-old and a 17-month-old, I’ve relied so heavily on my network of mom friends to help me along the way. It’s so important for moms to get together, talk, and just share ideas. I’m glad that we found this Facebook group and am available anytime to answer questions! Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions for me: [email protected].