E80: Bone Health Isn't Just for Seniors: The Wellness Center for Bone and Joint Health Leads Patient-Centered Care

What makes Tiffany Belculfine with the Wellness Center For Bone And Joint Health a good neighbor? 

Bone health doesn't have to mean surgery or medications. Tiffany Belculfine, a certified physician assistant since 2007, reveals the innovative work happening at the Wellness Center for Bone and Joint Health at Magee Women's Hospital—where customized, non-surgical approaches are transforming how we think about our skeletal system.

Did you know your bones reach peak strength in your thirties? Most people don't discover this until decades later when problems have already developed. The Wellness Center aims to change this narrative by bringing education and preventive care directly to communities. Through free screening programs that include ultrasound bone density tests, nutrition assessments, fall prevention evaluations, and grip strength measurements, they're making bone health accessible to everyone—not just those who can make it to a doctor's office.

Belculfine busts persistent myths during our conversation, particularly that osteoporosis only affects older women. Men, too, face significant bone health risks but often remain unaware until problems develop. What makes the Wellness Center truly special is their patient-centered approach—creating fully customizable care plans based on what matters most to each individual. "This is not a one-size-fits-all program," Belculfine emphasizes, highlighting how they fill healthcare gaps when traditional medical settings leave questions unanswered. Whether through their main hospital location, satellite offices, or telemedicine options, the center ensures everyone can access the bone and joint health resources they need.

Want to learn more about keeping your bones and joints healthy at any age? Check out the Wellness Center's website or keep an eye out for their community screening events happening throughout Pittsburgh. Your skeleton will thank you for starting this conversation sooner rather than later!

To learn more about the Wellness Center For Bone And Joint Health go to: 

https://www.boneandjointhealth.org/

Wellness Center For Bone And Joint Health

[phone]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of aninformational resource on bone
and joint health?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Tiffany Belkifine, with WellnessCenter for Bone and Joint
Health.
Tiffany, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:34):
I am having a great Thursday.
Thank you so much for having meon.
I'm so excited.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Awesome.
Well, thanks for being here.
We're excited to learn allabout you and your business, so
please tell us more about yourorganization.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
So I am the medical provider for the Wellness Center
for Bone and Joint Health,based out of McGee Women's
Hospital.
We are a non-surgical,non-medication bone and joint
health clinic and we focus on alot of different things that
come up for people about boneand joint health that maybe
they've never even thought aboutbefore, so we try to bring

(01:08):
education and awareness out intothe community and to all of the
patients who want to access theWellness Center.
We are closely connected with alarge orthopedic surgery group
at McGee called the Bone andJoint Center and Renaissance
Orthopedics.
Our medical director isactually one of the surgeons who
operates in that facility, sowe are the non-surgical arm of

(01:31):
the Bone and Joint Center.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
What an amazing resource for people who are
looking for something lessinvasive.
So how did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:41):
Well, I've been a physician assistant since 2007.
That is my degree.
I'm a certified physicianassistant, so I take care of all
of our patients in the WellnessCenter and in other previous
positions I've had, they've justbeen clinic-based, where you
have a schedule and you go see apatient, you address their
concerns and then you go on tothe next.
In the Wellness Center weactually have a really nice

(02:04):
component that we go out intothe community and we bring not
only free educational events topeople but we also bring care.
Some of the things that we cando for people include free
screening programs where we cando an ultrasound to check their
bone density, we can do anutrition screen, we can do a
fall prevention screen, we cando a grip strength test and we

(02:26):
are piloting a new plan comingsoon where we will actually be
bringing x-rays to people insome capacities.
So there's a lot of informationwe can give people, not only
with their health and thingsthat they can do for prevention,
but also that educationcomponent to people who maybe
can't come to regularappointments.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Oh, very good and definitely increasing the
accessibility for people whomight not be able to make it to
appointments as easily.
I love that.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, it's really nice.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
What are some myths or maybe misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 3 (03:02):
That's a great question.
So, unfortunately, in everyarea of medicine there are going
to be myths and misconceptions,but some of the biggest ones
that we encounter in thewellness center are things that
men can't get osteoporosis yes,they can and also that people
only need to worry about thingslike osteoporosis or their bone

(03:22):
health once they advance in age.
It is actually something thatpeople need to be worried about
their whole life so that oncethey are of an advancing age,
they don't have as many problems.
If we can catch them sooner, wecan educate them on the
prevention and what they need todo in the meantime, and then
again alerting men that they canalso be at risk for

(03:43):
osteoporosis, which many of themdon't know.
A lot of times we go to eventsand it's primarily women, but
men need to be educated thatthey can also suffer from these
terrible silent diseases.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Right.
So who are your targetcustomers, then, and how are you
attracting them to the business?

Speaker 3 (04:00):
We really don't have a specific target audience.
I will say that bone and jointhealth is for everyone, so
everyone has concerns abouttheir bone and joint health at
some point in their lives.
Many people don't get anyattention to their bone and
joint health until they're intotheir 60s.
The frustrating challenge thereis our bones are at their

(04:20):
strongest when we're in our 30s,but this isn't widely
advertised to people, so theydon't know about it.
So we want people to start toknow that they can come to us at
any point in their lives andstart to get information on what
to do or what to start doing orwhat to keep doing to keep
their bones and joints good andstrong and healthy.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Have you ever thought about maybe starting your own
podcast to get that informationto people?

Speaker 3 (04:44):
I haven't, but that could be really fun if I ever
had the capacity to do that.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
So what else do you do for fun outside of work?

Speaker 3 (04:53):
So I love to read.
I am currently involved in areading challenge that I created
myself, where I'm trying toread all of the books off of my
shelf before I buy any more.
It's quite hard.
Otherwise, I'm also a musicaltheater performer, so I do two
to three shows a year where Ising, dance and act on stage,
and I love to go out intocommunity theaters and meet new

(05:15):
people and perform together.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Oh, that's amazing.
Yeah, pittsburgh has a reallylively scene for the arts.
Yes, oh, that sounds so muchfun.
So, tiffany, please tell ourlisteners one thing that they
should remember, or that shouldstick with them, about the
Wellness Center for Bone andJoint Health.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
So the accessibility is so important for everybody to
know about.
We are in McGee Hospital, butwe also have other satellite
office locations and a lot ofwhat we do can be done as
telemedicine, so every patientcan be involved in whatever
degree they need to be.
This is not a one-size-fits-allprogram.

(05:58):
It is completely customizableto whatever patient's concerns
and needs are.
One of the things that we prideourselves on in the Wellness
Center is focusing on the thingsthat matter to the patient and
unfortunately, a lot of times inmedicine, people you know go in
with questions and they don'thave time to get them answered.
Or you know they have an ideaabout something and maybe their

(06:22):
doctor doesn't think that's thebest fit for them and they don't
know where to go from there.
We try to fill in the gaps forpeople where we can, and we want
to provide as customized of aprogram as we can.
Whether people are simplylooking for education, or people
are looking for exercises theycan do or information on
nutrition, or, you know, waysthat they could prevent their

(06:44):
fall risk in the future, orthings they can do in their home
, we really tackle any of thoseconcerns and more, and we really
want people to know that whatmatters to them is what matters
to us to help drive their careand make them an active partner
in their care.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
I love that so how can our?
Listeners learn more about theWellness Center for Bone and
Joint.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Health.
Well, we do have a website.
I apologize, I did not writedown the link so I will have to
send that to you so you can listthat for all of your listeners.
But we also have a phone numberwhere patients can call and ask
questions or make anappointment.
You can also keep your eyespeeled for any of our
information where we would belisting upcoming outreach events
.
We go to a lot of seniorcitizen centers.

(07:27):
We go to a lot of health fairswhere we will be doing those
four and five point screeningsthat I mentioned.
We can, you know, really getpeople involved in any way that
they want to be by just reachingout to us.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Excellent.
Well, Tiffany, I reallyappreciate your time today and
having you as a guest on theshow.
We wish you and the WellnessCenter the best moving forward.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be able to dothis with you, and I look
forward to hearing more abouteverything else that you have
going on too.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPPittsburghcom.
That's GNPPittsburghcom, orcall 412-561-9956.