Choosing healthcare providers should not feel like assembling two opposing teams. If you value naturopathic medicine but also want conventional medical care, the better goal is to find practitioners who respect one another’s roles and communicate when needed. Healthtopia Clinics was built around that idea.
One such option in San Diego is Healthtopia, with locations in Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, Sorrento Valley, and Hillcrest. Their staff is pictured in the photo at the top of this blog post; photos and testimonials of Healthtopia have been used with permission.
Meet the Founders of Healthtopia
Founded in 2018 by board-certified emergency physicians Dr. Joy Hardison and Dr. James Howard, Healthtopia brings primary care, urgent care, and integrative medicine together rather than treating them as competing approaches.
Dr. Hardison developed the model after years in emergency medicine, where she saw patients land in the ER because they could not easily access appropriate outpatient care. Today, Healthtopia operates four San Diego County clinics and offers telemedicine in California, Texas, and Florida.
Tip #1: Look for Collaborative Primary Care
The relationship between conventional and naturopathic medicine often depends on the individual practitioners involved. A primary care doctor does not need to practice naturopathic medicine to work effectively with a naturopath. What matters is whether that physician listens, considers the complete picture, and is willing to coordinate care instead of dismissing another qualified provider simply because that provider approaches health from a different perspective.
Healthtopia takes this collaborative philosophy further by incorporating naturopathic medicine into its own care model. Patients can receive conventional medical care while also accessing services such as nutrition counseling, lifestyle coaching, botanical medicine, supplement recommendations, hormone testing, and wellness programs.
That structure reflects an important point for patients. You should not have to choose a camp. Conventional medicine offers diagnostics, prescription medications, preventive screenings, acute treatment, and management of many chronic conditions. Naturopathic care may add another layer by focusing heavily on nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, and other integrative strategies. A care team can draw from both.
Tip #2: Ask About Communication
Before establishing care with a physician, ask how the practice handles patients who already see other healthcare professionals. If you regularly visit a naturopathic doctor in San Diego, Boston or wherever you live, you want a physician who is comfortable reviewing recommendations from that provider and discussing how they fit with the rest of your medical care.
Communication becomes especially important when supplements, botanicals, prescription medications, and hormone therapies overlap. Natural products can have real biological effects, which means they can also interact with medications or influence laboratory results. Sharing the complete list with everyone involved gives each practitioner better information.
The same principle works in reverse. Your naturopath should know about prescriptions, diagnoses, imaging results, and relevant recommendations from your conventional medical providers. Nobody benefits when each practitioner sees only one piece of the puzzle.
Healthtopia was designed to reduce those divisions. Its medical doctors, nurse practitioners, and naturopathic doctors can work within a collaborative environment rather than forcing patients to carry information between disconnected offices.
Tip #3: Consider the Available Services
Coordination matters, but practical capabilities matter too. One reason Dr. Hardison founded Healthtopia was a frustrating experience after her son broke his hand. A traditional urgent care facility could not provide the X-ray and splinting resources he needed, eventually leading her back to the emergency department where she worked.
That experience helped shape a broader outpatient model. Healthtopia now combines primary and urgent care with services including EKGs, X-rays, blood draws, on-site laboratory services, select ultrasound, sports medicine, women’s health, men’s health, joint injections, sports physicals, and medical clearance for surgery.
When choosing your own physician, consider what happens beyond the annual physical. Can the practice address a sudden illness? Can it order or perform diagnostic testing? Is same-day care available? Can it manage ongoing health concerns? A broader range of capabilities can make your care team considerably easier to navigate.
Meet the Founders of Avena Natural Health
Tip #4: Check Philosophy and Credentials
A willingness to collaborate should never replace medical qualifications. Research the physician’s training, experience, professional credentials, and areas of practice. You can also learn a great deal by examining how the clinic describes its approach to evidence, prevention, and patient involvement.
Dr. Hardison, for example, earned her MD and MPH from Mayo Medical School, completed an emergency medicine residency at the University of Arizona, and later became an adjunct professor at Bastyr University California. Her background in both emergency medicine and an institution known for integrative health education helped inform Healthtopia’s approach.
Patient experiences can provide another useful perspective. As of September 2026, Healthtopia’s four San Diego County locations have accumulated nearly 3,000 Google reviews, with an overall rating of approximately 4.9 stars.
Credentials tell you whether someone has the appropriate professional foundation. Philosophy helps determine whether that person will actually fit into the healthcare team you are trying to build.
Tip #5: Build a Team, Not Sides
Healthcare becomes unnecessarily difficult when patients feel pressured to hide one provider’s recommendations from another. You should be able to tell your physician that you take a supplement recommended by your naturopath, just as you should be able to discuss your prescription medications and conventional treatment plan with your naturopath.
Healthtopia offers one example of what that cooperation can look like when integrative and conventional practitioners work within the same organization. Its primary and urgent care services are in-network with Medicare and most PPO plans, while its naturopathic and integrative services are offered separately and are not covered by insurance.
Your providers do not necessarily need to share an office, company, or medical philosophy. They do need enough mutual respect to communicate, evaluate recommendations on their merits, and keep your overall health at the center of the conversation. The best care team is not built around choosing sides. It is built around qualified professionals who are willing to work together.
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Dr. Laura Kostrzewski, a San Diego native, completed her undergraduate degree at California Polytechnic State University, earning a BS in animal science with minors in Spanish and Psychology. She then earned her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and taught fifth grade in the central coast of California for two years. After being extremely involved in her grandfather’s journey with Parkinson’s disease and end-of-life care, Dr. Kostrzewski decided to move back to San Diego and enroll at Bastyr University California. Dr. Kostrzewski received her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University California in June of 2019, and then went on to complete her residency at Bastyr. Before AVENA Wellness, DR. K started her own private practice, focusing on management of neurodegenerative conditions, and continued teaching at Bastyr as adjunct faculty, until founding Avena Health.