Photo by Erin Bloodgood
Shalem Healing, a nonprofit health clinic that provides services to the underinsured, is setting an example of how to treat COVID-19 patients in Milwaukee. Dr. Robert Fox, Shalem Healing’s owner, treats patients with nutritional counseling and natural remedies before resorting to medicine. Using the latest research on the disease, he has been prescribing patients supplements and antivirals that strengthen the body to fight against the disease.
Established in 2003, Shalem Healing was built in the heart of Riverwest so that it could be central to the need-based community. The clinic was founded “to help as many people as possible,” says Fox. “If it’s the best care that there is, it should be available to everybody.” Fox uses his extensive knowledge of oriental medicine, nutrition and acupuncture to treat patients in a way that is very different from Western medicine. According to him, standard Western medical clinics and hospitals quickly resort to medicine and antibiotics, which tend to treat the symptom rather than the underlying condition. Fox will use medicine if necessary, but not before looking at a patient’s dietary habits and often prescribing herbal supplements.
Fox carries that same approach over to the COVID-19 patients that are coming to his clinic now. The doctor stays up to date on the latest clinical trials being published on the disease and bases his treatments on that research. According to him, studies are showing that zinc, selenomethionine, vitamin C, iodine and other natural vitamins and minerals are vital to helping the body fight off the highly contagious disease. He has used his own experience as a stem cell researcher and biomedical engineer to make his own formulas in his line called Refua Medicinals. Holistic remedies like these, explains Fox, are important because they build a strong immune system by using our body’s natural ability to heal.
Unlike many other hospitals and clinics, Fox is retesting confirmed COVID patients after they have shown no symptoms for five days and is finding that many of them continue to test positive. Wisconsin’s health department does not require retesting, but Fox emphasizes that without retesting confirmed COVID patients, there is no way to know whether they are still contagious. He believes so strongly in retesting patients that he has called Tony Evers and his state representative every day since March to argue that retesting be mandated.
People in the community have come to trust Dr. Fox and look to him for updated, reliable health information. He posts almost daily updates about COVID on his Facebook page with new information he has learned from his patients and helpful articles. It’s clear that he truly cares about his community and providing the best care possible to each patient. “If someone is really going to practice healthcare, they have to have true compassion,” says Fox. It’s that sincere, caring attitude that makes him a role model to many people in Milwaukee.
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Learn more at www.shalemhealing.com
Erin Bloodgood is a Milwaukee photographer and storyteller. Click the link to see more of her work.
