July 01, 2025
The Washington University Living Well Center model of medicine is rooted in proactive, personalized and evidence-based care – designed to meet patients where they are and guide them toward sustainable health and wellness. Devyani Hunt, MD, medical director of the Living Well Center shares, "We're redefining what health care means. It's not just about treating illness, it's about educating and empowering people to live better, move more and feel their best every day."
As the Living Well Center celebrates five years of innovation, integration and impact, we reflect on five major milestones that have shaped the journey.
1. Custom Patient Pathways
At the heart of the Living Well Center is the commitment to individualized care. The team designs custom patient pathways based on each individual's goals, lifestyle and health conditions. Through innovations like shared medical appointments and telehealth delivery, patient care is more collaborative, effective and accessible. Shared medical appointments are medical office visits led by a provider and conducted in a group setting. These visits function to manage symptoms or conditions among multiple people with similar goals, and the purpose is to provide treatment, peer support and information.
Current shared medical appointments include:
These group sessions allow patients to learn and heal together, supported by a interperfessional team and evidence-based practices.
2. Patient Success
Since the doors opened in 2020, over 5,500 patients have engaged with the Living Well Center to improve their quality of life and long-term health. Over 90% of participants of shared medical appointments were highly satisfied with the experience, found the information useful and were likely to recommend the program. These numbers aren't just metrics, they represent lives changed through tailored care. Patients have powerful messages to share:
“You don’t have to be sick to get better. I didn’t come to the Living Well Center because something was wrong—I came because I wanted to feel better, move more easily and age well. With support from their team, I changed how I eat, added movement back into my life and found simple ways to take care of myself every day. It’s made a huge difference.”
— Virginia, LWC patient
“I came to the Living Well Center in constant pain, barely able to walk, and unsure if I’d ever get back to the things I love. What I found was a team that looked at the whole picture—not just my back, but my diet, my stress, my mindset. With their support, my pain dropped from a ten to a four and I’m now walking 20 miles a week. I never thought that would be possible. They helped me reclaim my life.”
— David, LWC patient
“After COVID, I lost so much—my job, my energy, my mental clarity. I went from being a nurse for 51 years to not being able to care for myself the way I used to. When I found the Living Well Center’s Long-COVID Program, it felt like someone finally understood what I was going through. I gained strength, improved my thinking, and found a supportive group that reminded me I wasn’t alone. They gave me answers when no one else could, and introduced me to small changes that made a big difference. I even joined another wellness program because I wanted to keep going. Now I’m dancing with my husband again. That’s worth more than gold.”
— Margie, LWC patient
3. Collaboration with Orthopedics and Beyond
The Living Well Center has become a hub for collaborative care across WashU School of Medicine. Partnering with teams in spine surgery, joint reconstruction, musculoskeletal oncology and the Female Athlete Program to create specific care pathways that prepare patients for surgery, support recovery and promote overall well-being. The center's reach is expanding beyond orthopedics and programs are being co-developed for patients with young-onset colorectal cancer and those navigating long COVID recovery. These partnerships offer a continuum of care that bridges specialties and focuses on the whole person.
4. Interprofessional Team Approach
Patients benefit from the depth and breadth of expertise of an interprofessional team. The Living Well Center brings together physicians, physical therapists, registered dietitians, social workers, massage therapists, acupuncturists and more. Recently adding an athletic trainer to the team demonstrates the Living Well Center's continued evolution of offerings and support. This team-based approach has not only improved patient care, it has also been published in peer reviewed journals, helping to set a standard for collaborative wellness models nationwide.
5. Robust Research Platform
Under the leadership of research director, Abby Cheng, MD, the Living Well Center's research platform has grown into a national leader of lifestyle medicine, long COVID recovery, and mental health research.
The Next Five Years
The WashU Living Well Center remains committed to transforming health care from reactive to proactive, from fragmented to integrated, and from disease-focused to person-centered. Dr. Hunt shares, "We started the Living Well Center with a vision for what health care could be. Now, five years in, that vision is reality – and we're just getting started."