Rotarian of the Day Scarlett Lee favored local Rotary Club members with special guest Dr. Bethany Citarella at their meeting on April 16. Dr. Citarella is a young and enthusiastic family medicine practitioner who sees patients at Winn Wellness Clinic housed in Winn Parish Medical Center.

Staff at Winn Wellness in addition to Dr. Citarella are Dr. Mark Shelton, general surgeon Dr. James Lee, Dr. Iglesias and podiatrist Dr. Cameron McMahen. Specialty services in the areas of wound care, nephrology, podiatry, cardiology, general and colorectal surgery, as well as pediatrics are available through the clinic.

Dr. Citarella sees patients of all ages and with all types of complaints. She also does hospitalist duty, emergency medicine and intensive care. Dr. Citarella also performs dermatological procedures. She is especially excited to announce that her offices, as well as those of the pediatric Nurse Practitioner, are moving from the hospital to 639 West Lafayette Street, offices previously occupied by Dr. Eric Dupree.

Citarella will be expanding her area of practice to include a focus on women’s healthcare with an emphasis on the patients’ overall health rather than just treating a single illness as it occurs. This is a type of functional medicine with the aim of helping patients improve their overall condition. The emphasis in functional medicine is often keyed on weight loss and improvement of physical condition, and developing individual programs to help patients improve chronic conditions. 

Another particular concern she has is for people in the community who suffer from co-existing drug addiction and mental health problems, who need consistent and frequent follow-up as well as mental and physical therapy, and multiple social services.