Superior Health Solutions offers integrated health care with a natural approach in Henderson

Dr. Robert DeMartino is just one man.

Even though he will do what is necessary to help his patients have the healthiest life possible, he knows that when it comes to a person's health care needs, it might take multiple doctors under one roof to offer the most effective solutions.

"I played sports, and we always had a group of coaches for the team," DeMartino said. "You should have a team of people looking out for your health."

Under DeMartino's direction, Superior Health Solutions, 1661 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, uses the expertise of multiple medical professionals to assist patients' needs through natural medicine.

The clinic is modeled after the Mayo Clinic, just with a natural approach.

"You go in, you get evaluated by a few different doctors," DeMartino said, referring to how the Mayo Clinic works. "Then they sit down as a team and determine what track you go on. What do you need? What are the next logical steps to go on? What do we have to discover?"

As a board-certified chiropractor, DeMartino used his medical practice to help people.

"I felt like there were sicker patients that I could be helping that I wasn't," DeMartino said. "I would adjust people and they would feel better, but the diabetics were still diabetics. The fibromyalgia patients felt better but still had fibromyalgia. If the body can heal itself, why isn't it healing? There has to be something more to this."

On top of that, DeMartino saw the results of a broken system where patients, who often were too sick to be mobile, would have to run to different doctors and medical facilities to find solutions to their ailments. Their efforts were tedious and time-consuming.

"How can doctors team up together to offer a one-stop shop?" DeMartino said.

Superior Health Solutions brings diagnostic testing, multiple doctor evaluations and personal care under one roof. The clinic is based on three tiers: physical medicine, functional medicine and neurological rehabilitation.

Physical medicine, DeMartino said, includes services such as chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy and joint injections to reduce pain.

Functional medicine looks at internal issues and takes into consideration diet, maintaining insulin levels, making the body less acidic, the immune system and keeping the body running well overall.

The last tier, neurological rehabilitation, works with ailments and diseases such as fibromyalgia, Parkinson's disease, lupus and restless leg syndrome.

Superior Health Solutions also houses the office for Lupus of Nevada.

Herb Schultz, the regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, attended the clinic's opening Aug. 11.

"It is an excellent example of the community coming together to provide different types of health care services," Schultz said. "The Affordable Care Act strongly promotes integration and coordination of health care clinics."

Schultz said he has seen clinics with different services begin to work together.

"I look forward to seeing how this clinic does," Schultz said.

DeMartino has seen some resistance to people's thoughts on the natural medicine approach.

"With some good reason," DeMartino said. "Historically speaking, natural medicine has always been a low-tech medical approach. People try out this supplement or take this vitamin and have no idea if it does anything."

Integrating natural solutions with the technology available can yield better results, DeMartino said.

"We can do nerve studies to look at and target specific nerves," DeMartino said. "We can do tests to see if you're deficient in magnesium. It eliminates the guesswork. Before it was very anecdotal."

In time, DeMartino sees the trend of integrated natural medicine catching on across the country.

"I think it's the logical trend," DeMartino said.

DeMartino added that he thinks medicine designed to help with short-term needs are prescribed as long-term solutions.

"You step off a curb, get hit by a bus, and morphine becomes your friend," DeMartino said.

Even though morphine was designed to help with the pain, DeMartino said it wasn't planned to be a permanent fix.

Despite the access to health care, doctors and pharmaceutical medicines, DeMartino said the United States still ranks low on assessments. DeMartino said its partly because of the medical solutions provided.

"We try to fit a square peg in a round hole," DeMartino said.

With natural solutions, DeMartino hopes to make a difference in patients' lives.

DeMartino said he knew early on that he wanted to be in the medical field after his sister died of cancer.

"I was the only 10-year-old who went around saying he was going to be an oncologist," DeMartino said.

For about four years during his teens, DeMartino suffered from frequent migraine headaches. After suffering a sports injury to his back, he visited a chiropractor. The doctor alleviated his back injury during sessions and solved the headache problem. DeMartino was fascinated and curious.

"I liked the concept that the body could heal itself," DeMartino said.

He opened his own practice after college.

After his epiphany that there could be a holistic approach to his practice, DeMartino went to extended education courses to train in subjects such as quantum neurology and biological medicine to learn how to help people better.

He hopes to get the word out about the clinic to educate the public about what options are available when it comes to their health.

"I used to think people generally knew what they needed to do to be healthy but just didn't do it," DeMartino said.

DeMartino discovered that wasn't the case and that people aren't aware of other factors, such as stress, poor nutrition and chemicals that contribute to health issues.

"The Internet can be a great resource but can be confusing with the amount of information out there," DeMartino said.

Superior Health Solutions works with insurance companies. DeMartino said it can work with people financially, as well.

Superior Health Solutions is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 3 to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. to noon Friday.

For more information, call 643-9900 or visit shslasvegas.com.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 387-5201.