Today we’d like to introduce you to Amarinder Anand.
Hi Amarinder, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in the Detroit suburbs in a close-knit Sikh immigrant family. Our home was lively, warm, and full of learning: kitchen-table physics lessons from my engineer father, aromas of fresh sabzi and rotis from my mom and grandmother, and endless laughter between siblings and cousins. One of the happiest days of my life was when my little brother was born. I still remember the thrill of feeling proud, protective, and suddenly very grown-up.
My grandfather, a physician, also lived with us, and watching him care for people at our Gurdwara made medicine feel both magical and meaningful. Community members would share their deepest worries with him, and he always met them with calm solutions and genuine kindness. My other grandfather, a scholar in India, filled my childhood with letters, books, and stories that sparked my curiosity.
I went on to study journalism at Wayne State. Journalism ended up strengthening the exact skills I’d need as a doctor like listening deeply, asking good questions, and finding the story beneath the surface. I wrote health articles, worked for a palliative care newsletter, and eventually entered Wayne State University School of Medicine. The cadaver lab nearly sent me running, but once clinical rotations began, everything clicked. I loved connecting the science to real people, and Family Medicine felt like home.
I matched for residency in California after meeting my husband during my third year of medical school – a beautiful journey that ultimately brought me to San Diego. It was there, while practicing medicine, that I truly began to understand the tension between being a mother and being a physician. Insurance companies dictated too much; flexibility was nonexistent; “mom guilt” became constant. By the end of 2022, I knew corporate medicine wasn’t aligned with the doctor or mother I wanted to be.
In 2023 I began part-time mental health telemedicine work, which deepened my ability to really understand and support the mental health of my patients. Around the same time, my colleague Dr. Heikens approached me about opening a direct primary care practice. I said yes and that decision changed everything.
I have the sweetest boys. Today, I’m so proud to say that I get to attend the soccer games, be involved in my children’s schools, and enjoy the little morning moments (including tantrums) and giggles instead of rushing my boys out the door and speeding off to work. I remember the days of dropping them off at school in a frantic rush while they cried, and then carrying that heaviness into my day. I remember the resentment I felt knowing I couldn’t simply start work at a different time or leave on time to pick them up.
I don’t deal with that anymore.
Has the journey been smooth?
I’ve had a strong village behind me. We are very blessed to have a lot of family support around us.
Work-life balance, moral injury in corporate medicine, and the lack of flexibility for dual-physician families have been real challenges. I also experienced patient stalking at my previous job. This is an unfortunately common but rarely discussed issue for women in medicine.
Experiences like that highlight how often women physicians face bias; even recently, someone asked if I was the nurse for our practice when my male business partner and I had a meeting with a local clinic. These moments fuel my advocacy even more.
Tell us more about your business?
Direct Primary Care gives medicine back to patients and physicians: longer visits, no insurance middlemen, direct communication, and truly personalized care.
Today, that vision is Health Matters Direct Primary Care. Our mission is to show doctors that balance is possible, and that we can deliver exceptional, evidence-based care without burning out. I especially love caring for working mothers and women, where combining primary care with mental-health insight makes a real difference.
Our monthly membership (often $125 or less) includes all visits, direct texting and calls with your doctor, no copays, no wait times, and 30–90-minute visits. We offer procedures, low-cost labs and imaging, and can bill insurance when appropriate (e.g., pathology, imaging or certain labs).
As Family Medicine physicians, we’re trained broadly which allows us to manage most concerns and know exactly when a referral is truly needed.
What sets us apart? We practice medicine the way we were trained to without insurance dictating care. Patients get same- or next-day appointments, direct communication with their doctor, and body-positive, accessible, prevention-based care.
Good primary care is the foundation of good health, and we want to make it easy to receive.
Is there a quality you most attribute to your success? Empathy, compassion, kindness, and advocacy.
Pricing:
- Adults (20+): $125/month
- Ages 0–19: $75/month
- College students: $500/year
- Age 100+: $1/month—you deserve it
Contact Info:
- Website: healthmattersdpc.com
- Instagram: @healthmattersdpc
- Email: Hello@healthmattersdpc.com
- Free Meet & Greet: healthmattersdpc.hint.com/booking?appointment-type=appty-f2713d42b2c54c25
Image Credits
Sarah Morgan (photographer)
