About Us

The issue

The harsh reality is billions of dollars continue to be spent on healthcare and millions of people continue to suffer. Why? Many gaps exist in our present healthcare system and most people solely rely on the healthcare system to fix them. Our healthcare system and our way of living isn't working.

Holistic approaches are not valued the way traditional medicine is:

It is unacceptable that people do not have equal access to holistic healthcare and services.
It is unacceptable that people do not receive education or support for treatment approaches outside of prescription medicine.
It is unacceptable that people do not take accountability for their health and happiness.

Too many people are suffering. Too many people are going through the motions and are simply not happy or healthy. People are exhausted and don't know where to go or who to turn to for help.

Our Solution

Integrative Healthcare Solutions (IHS) is an organization that has been created as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization to start a wellness movement in our community that will help people get well, stay well and be well.

Our mission is to advance health and wellness by empowering people to take care of themselves. IHS is a resource center that gives people what they need to be well. We provide personalized support and access to services that address the “whole” person. Our goal is to help people create balance in body, mind, and spirit that can be sustained across their lifetime.

Integrative Healthcare Solutions is creating a movement to be well. We envision a community where people take care of themselves and one another. At IHS, we believe that by providing access to health and wellness education and services, addressing people’s individual needs, and bridging the gap between traditional and holistic healthcare, we can create a world where people get everything they need to get well and stay well.

THE INTEGRATIVE HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS' STORY

My name is Catherine DeOrsey, the Founder and Executive Director of Integrative Healthcare Solutions. This is my story.

One day, while living my seemingly ‘good’ life in 2016, my stomach started to hurt. I thought it might but the start of a stomach bug but passed it off and kept going. A day later, the general pain progressed to stabbing pain, and after three days, I drove myself to the hospital (thinking I might need my appendix out). To my surprise, my appendix was fine (for now), but I had multiple ulcers, a fistula, an abscess, and so much inflammation that my doctor couldn’t even get a pediatric scope through my intestines. After spending three nights in the hospital, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called Severe Crohn’s Disease, and I needed to be on heavy-duty medications called biologics immediately. The interesting thing is I worked in healthcare all my life. I have a scientific background with a Masters in Physical Therapy and had been working for the pharma/biotech industry for 20+ years. I knew what this diagnosis meant and I knew the benefits and risks of taking medications, especially biologics. This was not good. How could this be happening?

On the outside, I appeared to be well. I had a beautiful family and home, good friends and a “great” job that provided many benefits for my family. I’ve never been sick. “Being healthy” has always been a way of life for me (or so I thought). After all, I ate pretty good and worked out consistently. I have many friends who are physicians and healthcare workers so if anything happens, I know who to ask for help, right? Let me be clear, I thoroughly respect and admire the medical community. The truth is I had no idea what a healthy lifestyle meant or even what well-being was and why it matters.

On the inside, my life was filled with 30 years of chronic stress but I had no history of disease or illness before my diagnosis.I was ‘happy’ but I had been living life from the outside in, round and round on the hamster wheel. I was always doing something, my mind was always ticking away with to-do lists or replaying life situations. I traveled extensively for work for ten years while being married and having two small children, a dog and home to take care of. I never took a break. I was always last in my life.

On top of the day-to-day fast paced life, I’ve endured a lot and lost many loved ones. For twenty years, my family lived with my brother’s addiction to opioids and alcohol until he fatally overdosed in 2008. My father was diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer and died in 8.5 months on Valentine's Day 2005. My friend was diagnosed with Triple Hit Lymphoma in 2017 and died in 7 months.

Reflecting on all these experiences, I witnessed firsthand how holistic approaches were never even a consideration or discussion for any of our conditions or symptoms. It was only through becoming a patient and going through our healthcare system from a different perspective that I realized we're approaching healthcare and the way we live our lives wrong in this country. The result is millions of people are suffering and it gets worse every year. Deep down inside of me, I realized we can no longer solely rely on scientific evidence and prescription medicine to treat pain and disease. Through my own condition and discovery, I found a better way! This way utilized all sides of healthcare, and, for me, this has been an approach that has brought me healing, and lasting health and wellness that I know is sustainable. Isn’t this what we are all looking for?

Reflection:

This health crisis caused me to rethink everything and become curious. I started to research, read books, try different approaches to healthcare and above all, it brought me closer to God (or The Universe). This new way of approaching health and disease challenged me about the things I thought I knew about health, what well-being is and why it matters so much. It also shined a light on our healthcare system and opened my eyes to how most people are not healthy. I learned how to be well. My MRI is normal, showing no evidence of disease and I’ve been off all medication for 4 years. I’m grateful for everything I’ve been through, for what I’ve learned, and for where I am today. It took me getting brutally sick to finally wake up and realize I needed to make changes to my lifestyle to become truly well. It inspired me to become a a certified health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition so I can help others. It is the combination of my personal and professional experiences that inspired and allowed me to create Integrative Healthcare Solutions for YOU!

Helping to bring holistic solutions to the medical community and people in need is my passion and mission in life. It’s time to help our doctors and their patients. It’s time to start taking care of ourselves. Integrative Healthcare Solutions is taking money, power and fame out of the equation so we can focus on one thing: putting PEOPLE FIRST so they get what they need to get well, stay well and be well.

In loving memory of my father, Arthur Gott, my brother, David Gott, and my friend, Lisa Horne, please join me in our movement to be well.

Integrative Healthcare Solutions is a 501 (c)(3) organization.