Tracy Kowalski, APRN FNP-C

Nurse Practitioner
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Nurse Practioner, functional and integrative medicine provider, specializing in hormones and detoxification, wife, mom, and follower of Christ.

Interest From a Young Age

Tracy became interested in medicine at a very young age. She looked up to her uncle, Dr. Mark Ottenweller, who left his surgical residency after becoming a Christian, to pursue internal medicine so he could minister to people more. She admired how he helped patients physically as well as sharing God’s plan for spiritual healing. He moved his family to Africa to plant a church and provide medical care to orphans and AIDS patients. Tracy admired his work and it sparked her interest in medicine.

Her Self-Journey to Functional Medicine

From her childhood experiences, she took a health careers class in high school and she has never looked back. She pursued a biochemistry degree as well as an undergraduate in nursing. Her interest in functional medicine was sparked by her own personal health journey. After getting into medical school, she was suffering from severe fatigue, so she deferred a year and worked as a nurse in the PICU and the NICU at Memorial Hermann. Conventional medicine did not have an answer for her and they diagnosed her with idiopathic hypersomnia.

After tirelessly not getting any progress or answers about her personal health, she decided that she wanted to learn more about preventative medicine and keeping people well. So instead of pursuing medical school, she decided to get her Masters in nursing from the University of Texas in the Houston Medical Center. After working in Baylor’s Internal Medicine/Pediatric department for a while, she knew that there was more to learn. She realized that while medicine was great at acute care, it wasn’t well equipped to handle chronic disease management and preventing “dis-ease”. This ultimately led her into her own journey of functional medicine.

Her Philosophy and Areas of Expertise

Experiencing mysterious symptoms herself, she got into digging deep to learn more about the body and health itself. She studied neurofeedback, heavy metals, and pursued training for hormones with the American Academy of Anti-aging. After seeing a drastic change in her health by applying what she learned (realizing that she had an autoimmune condition that is now in remission), she pursued and completed a certification from the School for Applied Functional Medicine. She learned to search for the root cause of symptoms rather than using a band-aid approach.

Tracy loves learning and continues to add to her tool kit new approaches as she learns more and more about God’s greatest creation, the human body. She knew God made us “very good” and that symptoms are the body’s way of communicating that the system is off-balance and needs attention. She believes symptoms are not to be silenced, but to be listened to with a keen ear to understand the message and to be a detective to find out what the body is communicating. Her approach is to find what the root cause is so the body can be brought back to alignment.

Her Journey to Whole Health

While Tracy was incorporating what she learned into the practices she worked at, she was searching for an integrative practice where she could work with the whole patient. After a few years of praying, she met Dr. Wells at a work dinner and knew immediately that she wanted to be a part of Whole Health. God answered her prayers, and she was able to join the practice in 2022.

Training and Experience

  • School for Applied Functional Medicine Certification, 2022
  • Certified Family Nurse Practitioner – American Association of Nurse Practitioners
  • Masters Degree Family Nurse Practitioner — University of Texas, Houston
  • Bachelors Degree in Nursing — McNeese State University
  • Basic Life Support Certified
  • Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Certified
  • Pediatric Advanced Life Support Certified
  • YMCA Weight Loss Health Coach Certification, 2018
  • Mentorship in Neurofeedback
  • American Academy of Anti-aging Hormone Module, 2014
  • Experience and education in the following areas:
    • Bioidentical hormones
    • Gut health
    • Fatigue
    • Heavy metal toxicity
    • Autoimmune disorders
    • Mold

A Little Extra Info...

In her time off, she spends time with her husband and two children. She loves the outdoors, tennis, and she teaches a yoga/pilates class, a weight lifting class, and a mixed martial arts class at the YMCA. She loves movement and taking care of the vessel God gave her. She loves sharing that love with others and tries to make exercise fun for others. 

Meet Our Other Providers!

Our providers have a wealth of knowledge and a heart for our patients!

Dr. Valeska Wells, DO
Medical Director

Megan Runge, MPAS PA-C
Physician Associate

Meg Hanley, APRN FNP-C
Nurse Practitioner

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Book your Infusion Today!

Fill in the form below and we’ll give you a quick call as soon as possible to get you on the schedule.  If it’s early enough, we may be able to book you same day.  If it’s outside our normal business hours, we’ll call you the next day.

Seema

Medical Scribe

Seema first came on almost 2 years ago to work for a separate company owned by the Wells’s. Her and her family have been patients of Dr. Wells at Whole Health for years so for her to find this opportunity was not a far stretch! Though she often works “on the other side”, because the two businesses are right next to each other, in her free time during work she has crossed over to help in a variety of ways whenever she has free time during the work day. She can be seen helping scribe for our providers when the need arises, helping with packing and shipping supplements as time allows, and many other little things. You can say that she is a jacquelyn-of-all-trades! Whichever role she is working in, she truly felt like “God was calling [her] to work at Whole Health” and it has abundantly been a blessing to both her and to us!

Seema graduated with an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at Trinity University and she is currently studying and attending classes to apply for PA school. So to be in the jobs that she has been in, has been a great testimony that the Lord orchestrated her steps to have this experience already as she goes back to school! 

Outside the office, she enjoys spending time with her family, taking walks, working outside on her family’s farm, reading, and doing yarn crafts.

Wyatt

Patient Advocate

As a former EMT and a relatively new Houstonian, when Wyatt first applied for the position, he applied to be a patient advocate. At the time, store and IV associate was in more need, so he was hired for that position. He graciously accepted the offer and served that position with a smile, always learning and striving to help patients and staff feel safe and at home. Both patients and staff alike soon grew to love his humor, friendliness, and heart. He has loved getting to know the patients and making those personable connections with them. Whether talking about sad and hard to take news, obnoxious conspiracy theories, snake bites, or just friendly conversation, he has enjoyed developing those relationships with both patients and staff alike. 

After working at that position for a little over a year, his original intent to be a patient advocate came true! He has transitioned seamlessly and helps patients with even greater intentionality, heart, and personableness as before. Like Michelle, he is another bridge from provider to patient when questions need to be answered. He has enjoyed being a part of each patient’s health journey and their path to healing.

When his boots aren’t striding in the office, you will find him, his wife, and three boys loving the outdoors. They enjoy camping (the true, primitive kind), hiking, and hunting. He loves connecting with God’s nature and creation. He also loves to play board games and host game nights with friends.

Patricia "Pat"

Lab Reports and Relations Specialist

When Pat and her husband first moved to Orlando in 2012, her husband encouraged her to follow after her dreams. She had desired to do something in the medical field for years. She was intrigued by how you can find out so much about a person by their blood. She got her Phlebotomy certificate and started working at a hospital.

In 2017, her husband went to Houston to help with the Hurricane Harvey clean up. He felt like that there was where they were supposed to be, so she started looking for a job. She really wanted to be in a doctor’s office where she could learn, and also be able to share God’s love with others. After several months of looking, and much prayer, God opened a door for her to become a phlebotomist with the Whole Health team. In her years she has worked in the office, she has not only learned so much, but she has been able to enjoy ministering to patients whether it was treating them, listening to their story, or simply just loving on them. From children to adults, she was adored by many.

In November 2021, her and her husband felt called to move back to Florida, this time to North Ft Myers, to pastor a church. Though working remotely, she still contributes tremendously to the practice. She does the practical job of filing faxes, labs, and so forth, as well as does research for some treatments. However, she still fulfills the ministering part of her job by mailing cards to patients in need of a prayer, word of encouragement, or just a simple Happy Birthday.

She loves being a mom and a grandma and adores spending time with her children and grandchildren!

 

Kayleb

Front Receptionist

Coming from being a receptionist at car dealerships, she was introduced to our practice through her friend, Meg Hanley, who just so happened to be one of our providers! Seeking for a fresh start on a new job path, Kayleb took the opportunity to become a front receptionist with us.

Being a receptionist is no small job and she has been thriving greatly! From getting patient appointments set up for the day, talking to patients, relaying calls to the right person, and checking people in, she has done it with such thoroughness, care, and a smile. She has loved creating personable relationships with the patients she interacts with. She has also enjoyed getting to know her co-workers as well. Her words, “best work environment I’ve come to know”.

Outside the office, she enjoys spending time with family, going to the beach, and traveling.

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Mariela

Billing & Accounts Specialist

In Mariela’s first year with us, she started off as our front receptionist. Through her experience then, she found her niche in handling billing and accounts for our patients, thus bore the role that she has today. While that is her primary job, she is still always willing to lend a hand in checking in or checking out patients or any other small task when things get backed up. Whichever job she is doing, she always makes an effort to make our patients’ experience as personable and comfortable as possible. 

Before joining us, she has done a wide array of jobs over the years and even attended ministry school (fun fact)! The dynamic skills and experience she has acquired in those environments has shaped her in who she is today. She loves her work family and to be able to work in a Christian-centric environment, where she continually is being shaped into the beautiful human being she is.

In her spare time, she enjoys time with her dog, Oreo, watching funny videos, and listening to her favorite music artists (her favorite being Michael Bublé).

Michelle

Patient Advocate / Admin Lead

Patient Advocate doesn’t even begin to describe Michelle’s integral role in our practice. Though her role is primarily known to be a bridge between the provider and patient to answer questions, you can make a laundry list of all the things she helps our staff and patients with on a daily basis. She wears many hats, which isn’t too far off from the job she had as a former high school teacher (plus being a mom of 4).

To quote it simply, she believes it was true “divine intervention” that the door was opened for her to join our team. She has demonstrated such leadership and compassion to everything she does. To be able to work in a faith-filled environment on a daily basis to minister to others and pray with them has been such a blessing to her. Combine that with being able to work with an incredible team and interact with our beloved patients, it has been an amazing and purposeful experience.

When not being the “office mom”, she loves being a mom to her kids alongside her husband, Humberto. Sports run heavily in the family, so she will be seen running around with them, cheering them on in any sport they participate in.

Brant

Store and IV Associate

While relatively new to our team, Brant has fully immersed himself in the medical realm for about 4 years. Before that, he was a middle school science teacher for more than 20 years, but was always fascinated by the medical field, thus prompted the switch in career paths. One of his passions has always been to help people so in some ways, his jump from helping kids to helping patients with their health is not that far off!

Brant handles much of the supplement sales and always makes sure that our patients, especially our IV ones, feel supported and cared for optimally and personably. As he has been working here, he has been learning something new every day, which always excites him. He also enjoys seeing the teamwork it takes to support everyone from patients to staff.

Along with learning new things, he loves traveling and animals, both of which he enjoys with his wife.

Evelyn

Design & Marketing Administrator

Evelyn has been with the Whole Health family for about 2 years now. You wouldn’t believe it when we say that she studied both her undergrad and master’s in Education! After being a teacher for 5 years, the Lord called her to move elsewhere. Unexpectedly taking a gap year, doing temporary jobs in between, she then was introduced to job openings at Whole Health through a mutual connection. Long story short, she has molded into her role of Design and Marketing Administrator. She manages graphical designs, delegates our supplement store business, and markets for all the things we offer and continue to expand to offer at Whole Health. She is discovering new passions, gifts, and skills as well as developing old ones through her job and enjoys helping even in the smallest of details.

Evelyn enjoys serving in her home church, listening to worship music, spending time with the ones she loves, and eating her favorite foods and cuisines. She hopes to travel more in the future as she also loves exploring nature and God’s creation.

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