I have been an innovator in women’s healthcare since I started my career in 1993. I was an early adopter of minimally invasive surgery, performing thousands of surgeries, including nearly 1000 robotic hysterectomy cases. This allowed women to be discharged from the hospital the day of surgery and return to work in only 7 to 10 days. In addition too, I am an advocate for alternative medication to replace the use of narcotics. I employed the first nurse midwife in my community. I also developed the first fully staffed obstetrical (OB) hospitalist program in my community. Over the past five years, I have assisted other hospitals in developing their own OB hospitalist programs.
In 2023, I was eating at Epiphany Farms Restaurant in Bloomington, Illinois. As I was dining, I was pondering the state of medicine…the shortage of US medical providers, the COVID disaster, chronic illness in the general population and the poor health of many Americans…AND I HAD AN EPIPHANY! My epiphany was multi pronged and patient centric. It involved providing comprehensive women’s healthcare with gynecological healthcare. This patient centric model bridges the gap between family practice-internal medicine and gynecology. It will be staffed by nurse practitioners with a physician overseer. As my Epiphany model has matured, it has moved toward a functional medicine practice focusing on improving women’s health by concentrating on lifestyle, diet, and daily activity.
I am also family centric. I have been blessed with five children and eleven grandchildren. My family practices what we preach. Our lifestyle includes prayer, community, and good sleep patterns. Our diet includes intermittent fasting, organic foods, and sugar reduction. And our life involves daily activities in the form of traveling, managing a home and property, playing with our children and grandchildren, biking, lifting weights, walking, and gardening to name a few.
I am excited to start another new chapter in my life. Epiphany has a true and altruistic focus…improve women’s heath. Journey with me and my team.
My name is Lauren Shoemaker. I’m originally from Camden, AL, and moved to Baldwin County with my husband, Cody, in 2019. I earned my Bachelor’s in Nursing from Auburn University at Montgomery and my Master’s in Nursing from the University of South Alabama.
Cody and I have two wonderful children: our four-year-old son and our two-year-old daughter. When we’re not at the tee-ball fields with our kids, we enjoy playing golf together. With over seven years in healthcare, I’ve worked in the emergency room, labor and delivery, and surgery. I love sharing my personal health journey with women to offer a friendly and supportive presence throughout their own experiences.
