York doctor revives ‘old fashioned family medicine’
- Dr. Christina Doll went into medicine to make a difference in people’s lives. When working for the traditional system didn’t fit her style, she decided to craft her own family practice.
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For Dr. Christina Doll, the Rockwellian picture of the family doctor making home visits, sitting down with her patients, and taking time to know each one isn’t just a scene from the past – it’s her everyday reality.
Revival Direct Primary Care, the family medicine practice she started last year in York, is a 180-degree shift from what she refers to as “assembly line medicine.”
She doesn’t accept insurance. Instead, her patients pay an affordable monthly fee and receive preventive care, chronic disease management, sick visits, discount prescriptions, and more.
“Old fashioned family medicine still exists,” she says. “Here, you are more than just a number.”
Taking the leap
After medical school, Dr. Doll completed her residency at York Hospital then worked for a large local medical group. In early 2020, a difficult pregnancy and 30 weeks on an IV put her on a long hiatus from work. While she was on leave, COVID-19 hit.
Although there was a widespread perception during the early pandemic that healthcare workers were in high demand, preventive care and elective services were being put on hold. Many practitioners found themselves with lower patient volumes. When Dr. Doll went to return from maternity leave, she learned that the office she worked at was facing similar problems and she would not be immediately needed.
“So, I had to decide,” Dr. Doll says, “do I stay and wait, or take a leap?”
With a toddler and newborn at home, Dr. Doll became a full-time mom by day and entrepreneur by night. She crafted her vision for Revival, built her own website, created marketing materials, and designed her office space.
A modern twist
In Sept. 2021, Dr. Doll opened the doors to Revival Direct Primary Care. The name stemmed not just from her desire to see her patients’ physical healing but also from the idea that she was reviving an old-school model of medicine rooted in the doctor-patient relationship.
Walking into the Revival office feels more like entering a boutique hotel than a medical office, with its midcentury modern leather chairs, soft cream and pink walls, and bins of colorful building blocks in the waiting room. A modern farmhouse-style sign in the waiting room reads, “Welcome to Revival, time to get healthy!”
With board certifications in both Family and Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Doll envisions a future where Revival offers a wholistic array of services, from cooking classes and nutrition counseling to yoga classes.
“What keeps me going,” Dr. Doll says, “is every time I see a patient, I’m renewed in my faith in this model and in this practice. I see the work that’s being done.”