Keeping Care Intentional
Every dollar you choose to spend with Grove Health stays rooted in the Fenton community. Your membership goes directly to supporting the clinic's operations, not a large corporate healthcare system looking to make the biggest profit. Because Grove Health does not take insurance money.
When patients need imaging, labs, or specialty services, we prioritize local and Michigan-based organizations whenever possible. We intentionally partner with independently owned clinics, physician offices, and healthcare businesses that are invested in the people they serve. These are people who care deeply about their neighbors and work hard to offer thoughtful, high-quality, and cost-conscious care.
Supporting independent medical practices helps keep healthcare dollars in the community, instead of funneling them into massive healthcare corporations or private equity-backed systems.
I’ve worked inside one of the largest healthcare systems in Michigan. I sat in meetings where the focus was not on better patient care; it was productivity metrics, faster visits, and increasing revenue. Messages to your doctor became billing opportunities. Nurses were actually beginning to be timed on patient phone calls because every interaction was expected to generate insurance revenue.
That experience made something very clear to me: healthcare should never revolve around maximizing profit margins. It should revolve around taking care of people.
When some of my university clinic patients had learned that I was leaving the clinic I’ve been at for more than a decade to startup my own direct primary care practice, the reactions have often deeply emotional. Some simply wish me well in this next chapter. Others have teared up…and honestly, I’ve had moments where I’ve struggled not to do the same.
And occasionally, someone assumes this decision is about money. The reality is the opposite.
Grove Health was built because I wanted the freedom to practice medicine differently…with the time that is needed, with more intention, and stronger relationships with patients.
A founding membership at Grove Health truly means becoming a founding member. You are helping build this practice from the ground up. You are choosing a model of care that prioritizes relationship over volume, access over bureaucracy, and personalized care over rushed appointments.
This is primary care the way I believe it should be practiced.
— Dr. Vanessa Scowden, MD
