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Red brick two-story building for Ascentis Health & Wellness surrounded by other businesses and parked cars

About

Ascentis Health and Wellness

Ascentis Health and Wellness was built to be different from the “one-size-fits-all” wellness model. We’re locally owned, medically led, and committed to helping clients feel stronger, healthier, and more confident through personalized care—not corporate protocols. Our approach is rooted in education, safety, and strategies that are guided by real data, real experience, and ongoing support.

Our Story

Ascentis began with a chance dinner conversation—and a shared sense of purpose. On a trip to Kentucky with Mizzou Football, Jason and Pam Smith met Dr. Chris Main and Alissa Springer. They discovered hometown connections, shared values, and a mutual belief that wellness care should feel personal, ethical, and truly helpful. What started as a friendship quickly turned into a vision: create a clinic in Columbia where clients receive advanced wellness options with genuine medical oversight and a supportive, family-like experience.
Group photo of two men and two women, smiling for a holiday photo with a Christmas tree
Sport couple doing plank exercise workout in fitness centrum. Man and woman practicing plank in the gym.

Our Mission & What We Believe

We believe wellness works best when it’s personalized, evidence-based, and responsibly monitored—with a plan designed around your labs, your goals, and your lifestyle. We take time to listen, evaluate root causes, educate you along the way, and optimize your plan as your body changes.

Meet the Team

Ascentis Health and Wellness is led by people who genuinely care about the humans behind the goals.

Chris Main smiling with a white button up shirt and gray blazer and gray glasses

Chris Main, DO

Medical Director

Alissa Springer, smiling woman in a black blouse

Alissa Springer

Chief Marketing Officer

Jason Smith

Chief Executive Officer

Pam Smith, smiling woman in a gray blouse and silver bolo tie

Pam Smith

Chief Financial Officer

Paul Scardina, smiling man in a denim button up with gray pullover

Paul Scardina

Director of Operations

Kathy Ervie, smiling woman with blue blouse and navy blazer

Kathy Ervie, PA-C

Physician Assistant

Krystal Cohen, RN/ASRM-C

Registered Nurse

Becoming a New Client: What to Expect

At Ascentis, we follow a structured enrollment process to keep care safe, personalized, and results-driven.

1.

Initial Contact

Reach out by phone, email, or our secure website inquiry form. Our staff will listen to your goals and concerns. (No medical advice is provided at this first step—we’re gathering what we need for a thorough evaluation.)

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2.

Customized Laboratory Evaluation (Before Your Consultation)

Before you meet with a provider, we guide you through comprehensive lab testing to establish accurate baseline data related to hormones, metabolic markers, inflammation, and other key indicators. We partner with LabCorp and Quest to provide cost-affordable, customized testing panels designed around your needs and goals.

3.

Intake Forms + Provider Consultation

After labs, you’ll complete a detailed health intake questionnaire so we can understand symptoms, history, goals, and lifestyle. Then you’ll meet with one of our experienced medical providers to review your lab results together and build a customized plan.

4.

Education + Goal Setting

You’ll receive clear education on your labs and recommendations. Our providers and support staff collaborate with you to set short- and long-term goals so you feel confident and empowered.

5.

Follow-Up & Ongoing Optimization

Your plan is monitored over time with scheduled follow-ups that may include symptom check-ins, dose adjustments, repeat labs, and progress tracking to keep results safe, effective, and aligned with your goals.

Why We Start With Labs
(And Keep Monitoring)

At Ascentis, lab testing isn’t an “add-on”—it’s the foundation of responsible wellness care.

Comprehensive testing helps us understand your current metabolic and hormone status and determine whether therapies like TRT/HRT or medical weight loss are appropriate and safe. Hormones influence many systems (cardiovascular, reproductive, liver, thyroid, and mental health), and baseline markers help guide the safest and most effective plan for you.
Starting therapy without labs can create avoidable risks—especially with testosterone optimization or metabolic medications like GLP-1 therapies, which require careful monitoring of markers like glucose, kidney function, and other health indicators. Follow-up testing helps us track progress, make dosing adjustments, identify side effects early, and prevent complications as your body responds over time.

Compounding Pharmacies: How We Source Certain Therapies

Depending on your needs, your plan may include medications from traditional manufacturers, compounding pharmacies, or between traditional manufacturers and compounding pharmacies—always under medical supervision and based on clinical appropriateness.

Compounding Pharmacies

Compounding can allow our providers to customize dose increments, adjust delivery methods, and tailor escalation schedules to reduce side effects and support better tolerability—especially when standard products don’t offer the precision a client needs. Compounding may also help improve access and affordability when brand-name pricing or coverage barriers make clinically appropriate therapy difficult to sustain long-term.

Disclosure

Compounding pharmacies are not FDA-approved facilities in the same way pharmaceutical manufacturers are.

The FDA does not individually approve compounded or investigational formulations before they are dispensed or shipped, and the medications they produce, especially customized, compounds or peptides, are not evaluated through the FDA’s drug-approval process for safety, efficacy, or commercial distribution. Instead, these pharmacies operate under regulatory frameworks such as 503A or 503B compliance, USP standards, lot-based purity or sterility testing, and state board oversight. Even when the active ingredients are well-studied or identical to those found in brand-name medications, the final product formulation, concentration, stability over time, and patient-specific biologic response remain outside of FDA pre-market approval. For this reason, any compounded or investigational medication obtained from these facilities must be approached with caution and clinical accountability.

Because these products are not FDA-approved drugs, they should never be initiated or used without proper medical evaluation, a documented examination, and monitoring by a qualified healthcare professional licensed to direct their care. Patients and clinicians must recognize that peptides, hormones, and compounded metabolic agents can meaningfully influence appetite, immunity, vascular signaling, metabolism, and cellular repair pathways, and even small dosing or formulation differences have the potential to shift individual tolerance. Without oversight, patients cannot accurately assess interaction risk, purity assumptions, adverse reactions, or proper escalation schedules. For safety, all products sourced from compounded should only be used under the direction of an appropriately trained clinician who can interpret labs, verify medical eligibility, monitor for side effects, review pharmacy testing practices, and ensure treatment decisions remain grounded in evidence-based care—not convenience-based self-administration.

Ready to Connect?

If you’re interested in becoming a new client, start by reaching out. We’ll guide you through next steps, intake paperwork, and lab scheduling so you can move forward with clarity and confidence.

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