Kelly Felmer opens the Discover Health Healing Center in Allouez

Kelly Felmer, owner of Discovery Health Healing Center in Allouez, is on a mission.

With more than 25 years of experience in the medical field, she believes that health care is often backwards in how patients are treated. It is something she has learned first-hand.

"Each pivotal point for me revolves around a tragedy or something that changed in my life and led me to the medical field," Felmer said.

Those events included an injury her brother suffered, her mother's health issues including a battle with pancreatic cancer, and her own struggles with autoimmune disease. Through it all, in her various jobs, she cared for the sickest of the sick. She worked in critical care and thought there had to be a better way than waiting for the worst to happen before acting.

"When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, my rheumatologist said that I should let him know when I could not open my fingers anymore," she said. "I felt like the system failed me and started to educate myself on alternatives."

That led to a focus on preventive medicine and a lifelong journey to take control of her health. She modified her diet and habits and was able to get off the drugs she was on. Her husband, Tim, followed the same protocols and had success in getting rid of medications.

As Felmer continued her career as a nurse practitioner (she now also holds a doctorate in business), she continued to research preventive and holistic health. She worked part time in the traditional medical system and at an independent clinic where she could learn to do health differently.

"In 2014, I left the medical system," she said. "I figured out that I could not stay in it because everything just seemed to feel wrong. I went from having a salary to no salary, and my husband had to take on the overhead as I built my business one person at a time."

Discovery Health LLC had been formed a year earlier and Felmer began to find success as she worked from home for several years. That changed in 2018 when she and Tim attended a conference on photobiomodulation. Her dad had been diagnosed with ALS and they wanted to try the therapy to help him.

She said, "When we came across this therapy, we made the big decision to buy the equipment and open our own place to do one-on-one consults and offer these different services."

In 2020, the first LLC was phased out and Discovery Health Healing Center became a reality. The name was selected to mirror Felmer's own journey. A dragon fly logo symbolized the change the people can make in their lives.

The couple was on a mission. A business plan helped them organize their thoughts as they tried to anticipate how they could provide a full menu of services to meet a variety of needs. The first location was opened in Bellevue right as the pandemic caused a slowdown and limited the way clients could operate.

"The way it started was slow. Initially, we didn't meet our budget as planned because everything around us closed down," Felmer said. "When we first opened, our focus was on the light therapy and nutrition. But as that grew, we knew almost immediately that we had outgrown our space."

It was back to the business plan and budgeting as additional equipment and services were planned. A building was purchased at 1601 S. Webster Ave. in Allouez, and the size of the business increased exponentially. Before long, three employees became 13, and the focus on preventive care took a much broader turn.

A list of services includes IV vitamin infusion, bio energetic testing, Styku health screening for weight control, the photobiomodulation therapy for tissue repair and enhanced athletic performance, InfraRed light therapy, neurofeedback therapy, ozone therapy, an optimum focus footbath, and a therapy that combines ozone, steam, carbonic acid, infrared, and high-frequency electrical stimulation.

With all those choices, how does a person determine what might be best?

"There is no one size fits all," Felmer said. "An extensive interview will be done to evaluate what you need and how to get there. Your entire process will be tailored to you because you are not like anyone else."

The goal is to treat symptoms and fix the root causes of chronic disease while putting together an effective program. While the target client is a female between the ages of 30 and 60, Discovery Health will treat anyone who she says wants to be empowered to take control of their health.

"I want them to be energized, radiant, healthy, and happy again. I guide them on a health journey to reverse disease, resolve symptoms, and prevent future illness," she said.

In addition to the treatments, supplements are available. Felmer stresses the need for a complete program to achieve the best results. There is competition in the area, but most of it is segmented; her niche is in offering a full range of services at one location.

"At every pivotal moment that I said is ‘my why,’ I never had to struggle with the thought of doing it differently, I just started doing," Felmer said. "It wasn't blindly. Something is failing in the medical system, and we need to do it in a different way. I am passionate about teaching people and educating them on how this makes perfect sense."

And although she never planned on being an entrepreneur, Felmer and her husband have developed a business where their primary goal is to help others rather than have great economic success. The challenges going forward are those faced by many business owners.

"I want to be better balanced," Felmer said. "Being the owner and running the business and seeing patients all day long is super difficult and it can be a struggle to focus on the business side of things. Also, the balancing of staff can be a huge struggle; having one person on vacation impacts the whole flow of how the equipment is used."

That balance should come as the business matures. Her goal is to gradually move from being less of a practitioner and more of a mentor to the staff.

"We are here for somebody who is ready to make a change and look at health and themselves in a new way," she said. "I am always trying to inspire people and give them hope that things can change. See a need, fill a need. That's what I’m doing."

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.