Meet Jacob Schultz, Nurse Practitioner: Why We’re Building Driftless Health
If you’ve followed Driftless Health for a little while, you’ve probably heard us talk about doing healthcare differently. I thought it was time to explain a little more about what that means and what we’re building together.
I’m Jacob Schultz, a Family Nurse Practitioner and founder of Driftless Health here in Viroqua. I’ve lived in the Driftless Area since 2003, and this is where my family and I have built our lives. Driftless Health was created to offer something personal, practical, transparent, and connected to the people we serve.
As the practice grows, one thing has become clear: This isn’t something one person builds alone. Every patient visit, question, suggestion, and community conversation helps shape how Driftless Health continues to grow.
Looking Beyond the Moment Someone Gets Sick
I’ve spent much of my healthcare career in emergency medicine, critical care, rural healthcare, and prehospital care. I’ve spent years caring for people after something has already gone wrong. That experience made me think more about what happens before that point.
At Driftless Health, we treat the concern in front of us while also looking at the bigger picture for the future. That means paying attention to prevention, metabolic health, nutrition, sleep, movement, stress, hormones, cardiovascular risk, digestive health, medications, supplements, and the other factors that influence how a person feels and functions. Sometimes there is one clear problem to treat. Other times, several smaller things may be working together.
Whole-Body Function and Longevity
This is where primary care and functional medicine with a holistic approach come together, this is our approach to care.
The goal isn’t to order every possible test or make healthcare more complicated. It is to ask better questions, use testing thoughtfully, understand how the body is functioning as a whole, and identify practical opportunities to improve health over time. Sometimes that means medication, imaging, or referral. Other times, the biggest opportunities may be found in nutrition, sleep, movement, stress, or metabolic health.
Longevity is part of that conversation too. To us, longevity isn’t simply about living longer. It is about staying active, independent, capable, and healthy enough to keep doing the things that matter to you. Good healthcare should help you understand your risks, your options, and what you can do today to support your health in the years ahead.
Healthcare Costs Shouldn’t Be a Mystery
We also approach healthcare costs differently. One of the most frustrating parts of healthcare is receiving a service without really knowing what it will cost, then getting a bill months later that looks nothing like what you expected. We don’t think that should be normal.
Driftless Health is a direct-pay practice, and transparent pricing is part of how we operate. Visit prices are published; laboratory pricing is available on our website and at the time of care; and when additional testing is recommended, we want to discuss both why it may be useful and what it will cost beforehand whenever possible.
Healthcare decisions are easier when everyone has the same information. You should know what something costs before you agree to it; not find out five months afterward.
We also want care to remain as accessible and affordable as we can make it. Although Driftless Health does not bill insurance, payment plans are available, and we’re happy to talk through options when cost may be a barrier. Our goal is to work with people whenever possible rather than have finances become the reason someone avoids care.
Rooted Here
Driftless Health is intentionally small and rooted in Viroqua.
We’re part of a community my family and I have called home for more than two decades. That matters to how we practice. We want people to have time to ask questions, understand their options, and feel like they are part of their own healthcare.
Being local also means listening. The conversations we have with patients, families, neighbors, and community members continue to shape the services we offer and the way we care for people.
Building It Together
Some people come to Driftless Health for ongoing primary medical care. Others already have a provider they trust and come to us for another perspective, laboratory testing, prevention, wellness support, or a deeper functional medicine evaluation. There is room for both. We don’t expect to be everything for everyone. Good healthcare also means knowing when another clinician, specialist, therapist, pharmacist, or community resource should be part of the team.
Driftless Health is here, growing, and continuing to take shape around a few simple principles: Prevention matters, the whole person matters, costs should be clear, and patients should be part of the conversation from beginning to end.
Most of all, we want Driftless Health to continue feeling like it belongs to the community it serves. We’ll keep listening, learning, and building it together.
Ready to Start a Conversation?
If you’re looking for primary care, a functional medicine evaluation, support for your overall well-being, or simply another perspective on your health, we’d be glad to talk with you.
Our goal is to help you better understand your health, feel informed about your options, and feel empowered to make decisions that support how you feel and function now and over the long term. You can schedule an appointment directly, or start with a complimentary 15-minute introduction call with me if you’re not sure where to begin.
I’d be glad to talk with you!
Jacob, Nurse Practitioner