Dr. John Hallgren – River City Six

Meet Dr. John Hallgren, owner and family physician of Mission Direct Primary Care (missiondirectprimarycare.com).

Tell us a little about your business.

We are a direct primary care clinic, meaning we charge a monthly membership fee. That membership fee includes all visits with no limits on visits, 24/7 access to your actual doctor by phone/text/secure message, with many procedures from wart treatment to casting fractures included. We also have wholesale pricing on labs and imaging studies, and we work with specialists to ensure you have transparent, predictable pricing for your health care. We don’t bill insurance, you don’t need insurance to see us, and there are never any co-pays or per-visit fees for your visits.

How did you get started in the business?

I joined the Air Force out of high school, going to the Air Force Academy and then medical school, and I’ve been a board-certified family physician for 21 years. When I retired, I had been following direct primary care and knew I wanted to practice this way. I’ve also always wanted to own my own practice, so here we go.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally?

Currently, it’s making the transition from just being a physician to being a business owner. I’m not used to promoting, selling, networking, etc. It’s been a great challenge and definitely something I want to do, but it’s a big change. My wife Elizabeth is my business partner. She has her MBA and several years of experience doing this, so I’m learning a ton from her. She’s been a great mentor.

What has been your most important achievement professionally?

I had a fantastic, varied career in the Air Force, and I feel like I achieved quite a bit. I was part of the treatment team for the USS Cole bombing victims, helped set up the triage system for the wounded coming from Afghanistan and Iraq at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, deployed twice to Central and Southwest Asia, and worked several years in combination with University of Nebraska Medical Center to educate civilian and military residents.

Tell us a little about your family.

I’ve been married to Elizabeth for 23 years and counting. We have two grown sons. Henry graduated from Cornell College this May and will be teaching high school in Atlantic, IA. Jim is in college at Colorado School of Mines studying engineering. We also have a German Short-Haired Pointer and a Beagle/Bassett/Plott Hound to round it out.

What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?

Go to the pool, hike, walk the dogs, camp, golf, ski, paddle board, run, yard work—basically anything outside that gives an opportunity to work up a bit of a sweat.

Who inspires you?

The patients I serve. We tend to appeal to skilled workers who work for small businesses, independent contractors, and small business owners. They’re working hard but not getting rich and are really at a disadvantage when trying to figure out how to pay for health care. Traditional insurance today almost requires you to be rich to be able to afford it. Our model of care delivers a lot for the cost and gives us the time to help our patients find affordable options for things we don’t do. It’s my passion to try to transform how people pay for their health care.

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

I would be able to walk into any grocery store in the world and instantly know the exact location of every item on the shelves. Or fly, I don’t know.

If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so?

Phone: (402) 509-8964; Email: jhallgren@missiondpc.com; Website: missiondirectprimarycare.com.