An innovative approach to small town health care

Dr. Wes Hite to open Direct Primary Care office in Black Mountain

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 23, 2021

Dr. Wes Hite, a practicing family physician in Black Mountain for more than 10 years, is opening Wellspring Direct Primary Care, July 1. The West State Street clinic charges a monthly membership for patients with no fees-for-service regardless of health insurance coverage. Photo by Fred McCormick

There was a moment 11 years ago, as Dr. Wes Hite stood on a trail somewhere between Lookout and Rattlesnake Mountains, when he realized he wanted to continue his family medicine career in the valley below. He joined Dr. Robert Barker at his practice in the Village of Cheshire, where Hite would care for patients in his new home town.

For more than a decade, as Hite came to know his community and the people in it, he observed the many frustrations of patients as they navigated an increasingly complex healthcare system. 

“I knew there had to be a better way,” said Hite, who will open his new practice, Wellspring Direct Primary Care, July 1, on West State Street. 

Hite entered medical school as a member of the U.S. Army in 1999, beginning active duty in 2003. He retired from service as a reserve member of the Army National Guard in 2019. However, the Fort Benning, Georgia native’s personal mission was to bring his wife back to her home state of N.C. 

He was given that opportunity when he began practicing medicine with Barker at Park Ridge Health, now AdventHealth. While his passion for his work continued to grow each year, so did the administrative tasks associated with the profession. 

“Robert has always been able to keep his head above that, and put people first, that’s one of many things I loved about working with him,” Hite said of Barker, who will retire this fall. “But, that component of medicine has grown so much over the years, and we spend more time on administrative tasks than we do on actual care.”

As Hite contemplated his future in medicine, he was committed to remaining in Black Mountain after his colleague’s retirement, but he had an innovative idea for a new practice. Direct primary care is an alternative payment model intended to improve access to healthcare with a flat membership fee. There are no fee-for-service payments or third party billing, so patients with or without health insurance are welcome.

“We believe everyone deserves direct access to a trusted physician at a cost they can afford,” Hite said. “That’s why I’m passionate about the direct primary care model—our doors are open to everyone, regardless of insurance.”

Members of Wellspring will pay a monthly fee based on their age. Patients up to the age of 22 pay $35; ages 23 - 49 pay $65;  ages 50 - 64 pay $80 and ages 65 and older pay $95.

“The reasons for that scale are two-fold,” Hite said. “Obviously, as we age, statistically, we have more to deal with, so I will see those patients more often. Also, we plan to incorporate annual wellness visits into the members and those are along the lines where we screen differently at different ages.”

Enrollment is currently open, and membership is limited to 600 people. 

“It’s kind of like a gym membership,” Hite said. “You pay a monthly rate that allows me to keep food on the table and keep the clinic doors open, have medical supplies and a small staff, and in return, anything we can do at our level is built into that membership.”

The direct primary care model fits well within a small community like Black Mountain, according to Hite. 

“Visits to the doctor have become transactional, most filled with computer entry and algorithms,” he said. “That may be a good way to treat disease, but it’s no way to treat people. You and your doctor, not your insurance company, should make decisions on what is best for your health.”

His new practice will focus on prioritizing the relationships between the physician and his patients. 

“It’s really getting back to the core of medicine,” Hite said. “When you get out of med school and in residency, you’re kind of shielded from a lot of the administrative stuff and you’re just there to practice medicine and take care of people. Opening this practice makes me as excited as I’ve ever been about medicine in the last 15 years.”  

For more information about Wellspring Direct Primary Care, including membership information, visit wellspringdpc.com.