Vision:
The widespread adoption of a healthcare model that reverses the global epidemic of chronic disease and supports the development of vibrant longevity.
Mission:
- To shape and mobilize the next generation of Functional Medicine for both patients and practitioners through innovation, education, inspiration, collaboration and empowerment
Guiding principles:
- The patient must be at the center of any health care approach
- Healthcare requires a collaborative care team, with the patient and his support group at the center
- We need the best of allopathic, integrative and systems approaches to optimize patient health
- Understanding and addressing root causes can prevent or reverse chronic disease
- Dietary and lifestyle factors are major determinants of health
- Human ecology—including social, built and natural environments—is an integral part of creating lasting human health
- The health of future generations will be determined by how we act today
About Dr. Kara Fitzgerald – The Sandy Hook Clinic
The Sandy Hook Clinic (SHC) is located in the Sandy Hook Village section of Newtown, Connecticut in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The clinic is housed on the fourth floor of a rehabilitated old brick mill building, overlooking the Pootatuck River. Visitors find the clinic setting to be beautiful, centering and relaxing. Indeed, perched up above the river nestled in the Rocky Glen State Park, it feels a bit like being in a tree house.
We would love to have you visit, and we are happy to share directions and accommodations. If you are unable to make it to our clinic, we also offer telemed appointments. Please review our services for more information about the many ways we can work together.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and evaluating the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual.
Practitioners
- Functional Medicine offers a powerful new operating system and clinical model for assessment, treatment, and prevention of chronic disease to replace the outdated and ineffective acute-care models carried forward from the 20th century.
- Functional Medicine incorporates the latest in genetic science, systems biology, and understanding of how environmental and lifestyle factors influence the emergence and progression of the disease.
Our Nutrition Team
All of our Functional Nutritionists are trained and experienced in Functional Medicine through our clinic and the Institute for Functional Medicine. Your nutritionist will help you uncover the root causes of your issues, using detailed histories and functional laboratory testing (often included in your package), and create a highly-tailored Functional Medicine plan just for you.
Our nutrition team also has the benefit of ready access to myself and Dr. Litwin during our weekly Clinical Grand Rounds, to consult on your case should that be needed.
Our Administrative Team
Please do not hesitate to seek out support or guidance regarding any of your questions or concerns. We love to hear your compliments, too!