Asheville’s Original Direct Primary Care Practice
Your Health, Your Life…Integrated.
At Integrative Family Medicine, we have an integrative focus that supports long-term wellness by addressing the whole person and teaching our patients the skills they need to take better care of themselves.
Our integrative approach focuses primarily on nutrition, fitness, meaningful stress reduction, and personal growth. Through our personalized health coaching, we guide our patients in making healthy lifestyle choices that encourage optimal health and well-being. We aim to develop plans that meet specific patient values and needs.
We offer our comprehensive direct pay membership for an easy, monthly membership fee plus one-time $80 enrollment fee. This includes savings on additional visits as well as lab and procedure costs.
A Whole Team Approach
Michael Crowgey
MD
Accepting new patients: Ages 0-62
Michael grew up on a farm in southwest Virginia a few hours north of Asheville. Seeking an alternate path after graduating with a degree in business from the University of Virginia, Michael moved to Japan to teach English. While in Japan, he became interested in food as medicine. Read more…
Richard Downing
FNP
Richard has an impressive background in nursing, with a career that spans various roles and specialties. Born in Eastern Tennessee and raised in Raleigh, NC, he moved to Charlotte in 2007 to pursue nursing. Read more:
Tom Everts
PA
Accepting new patients: Ages 1+ Born outside of Denver, Colorado, Tom grew up on an orange grove in southwest Florida. He graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a focus in biology and chemistry and completed his physician assistant studies at Nova Southeastern University. Early in his career while working at a community health center, Tom discovered that using lifestyle medicine tools helped his patients live their best lives… Read More
Ariana Figueroa
Integrative Health Coach
Born to a multicultural family of Cubans and Americans, Ariana Figueroa grew up in Athens, Georgia, where she observed early on how lifestyle choices shape health and well-being, along with the unique challenges people face in prioritizing them... Read More
Elizabeth Frost
PA MSCP, Vice President
Liz grew up in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado and graduated with honors from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She found her way to North Carolina in 2007 landing first at Lake James and eventually moving to Asheville… Read More
Chad Krisel
MD
Chad grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, earning an undergraduate degree in environmental science with minors in religious studies and natural resource ethics from the University of Florida. Seeking to combine this education with his passion for serving others… Read More
Brian Lewis
MD MPH
Brian was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and pursued his undergraduate, medical and public health studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. He has over 25 years of experience in Holistic & Integrative Medicine. He is passionate about personalized lifestyle medicine as the foundation of sustainable health care… Read More
Katey Perry
FNP
Katey grew up in Southwest Florida and began her higher education with a BA in art history from Florida State University. While studying in Italy, she developed a broader understanding of humanity’s complexity and determination to contribute to society… Read More
Jennifer Schirner
PA
Accepting new patients: Ages 1+
Jennifer grew up in Ohio and attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where she earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. She went on to earn her master’s degree in teaching at Western Carolina University. After several years in education she realized her true passion for medicine… Read More
Meet Our Staff
Erin Elliott
Practice Administrator
Erin grew up in central Florida and graduated with her BSN from Florida State University. She began her nursing career by serving as a nurse in the U.S. Navy for nearly nine years. It was during her time in the Navy that Erin first began working in management roles in healthcare and her passion for quality, staff support, and patient advocacy began… Read More
Brandi Oltmann
Front Office Manager
Brandi was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, where she attended UNC-G with studies in Biology and English. In 1998 she moved from Chapel Hill to Western North Carolina and finally put down roots in Asheville in 2001. Brandi’s love of biology led her to the medical field, and she has been an integral part of several medical offices in WNC... Read More
Melanie Warren
Front Office Coordinator
Melanie is a 6th generation Asheville native, raised in the mountains of Candler. In 2010, after spending 10+ years in customer service, she attended A-B Tech Community College where she obtained an associate’s degree in Medical Office Administration... Read More
Maggie Earwood
Medical Receptionist
Maggie is an Asheville native, and has lived here all her life. Her work in healthcare began over 10 years ago, first as a CNA and then as a Medical Assistant. While experienced in both adult and pediatric care, her love for children led her to work in pediatric orthopedics for many years.Read More
Krystle Valencia
Phlebotomist
Krystle was born in Chicago, IL, and raised in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago near Woodfield Mall. She completed her early education there and her Phlebotomy Certification through the NHA in 2009… Read More
Carmen Hipps
Medical Assistant
Carmen, originally from South Carolina, has called the WNC mountains her home since 1998. She brings 20+ years of medical field experience to the practice, having worked as a Medical Assistant and spent time in Podiatry and Orthopedics…Read More
Meet The Founders
Two traditionally trained MDs who left their practice to create a new, holistic vision of health care.
Chad Krisel, MD & Brian Lewis, MD MPH
Integrative Family Physicians
Drs. Krisel and Lewis both share the ideals of sustainability, holism, service, and personal cultivation. They met through advocacy work in medical school, and later became close friends while completing the Family Medicine residency program in Asheville, NC.
During residency they faced the big question that frustrates primary care doctors: How do we address the needs of the people we serve when conventional medical practice does not provide the time or resources to address the full scope of people’s health concerns? In asking themselves how they could practice medicine differently they wanted to create a model clinic that would demonstrate a simple, transparent, and integrative approach to health care. They selected the best, evidence-based elements from conventional Western medicine and combined them with complimentary / traditional healing arts.