Michelle Sanders, Author at Vibrant Health of Colorado

About Michelle Sanders

Michelle Sanders is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner dedicated to helping patients shift their health trajectory. By bridging the gap between functional and traditional medicine, she specializes in managing chronic conditions, including metabolic disease, cardiovascular health, and thyroid disorders, while emphasizing gut health, hormones, and autoimmune disease. She utilizes a comprehensive range of nutrition, lifestyle changes, and advanced research to help patients reach their goals. A Baylor and Regis University alumna, Michelle practiced internal medicine through a functional lens in Aurora, Colorado prior to joining Vibrant Health. When not with her husband and three children, she enjoys hiking, playing pickleball, tending to her "plant babies," and staying active in her church.

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Entries by Michelle Sanders

Healing the Gut from the Inside Out: A Functional Medicine Approach to SIBO, IBS, and the Microbiome

January 22, 2026/in Miscellaneous/by Michelle Sanders

Digestive symptoms can quietly take over daily life. Bloating after meals, unpredictable bowel habits, abdominal discomfort, fatigue, and brain fog often linger for years. Many of the patients we see at Vibrant Health of Colorado have already done “everything right.” They have seen specialists, completed scopes and scans, and been told their results look normal, […]

Michelle Sanders

Michelle Sanders is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner dedicated to helping patients shift their health trajectory. By bridging the gap between functional and traditional medicine, she specializes in managing chronic conditions, including metabolic disease, cardiovascular health, and thyroid disorders, while emphasizing gut health, hormones, and autoimmune disease. She utilizes a comprehensive range of nutrition, lifestyle changes, and advanced research to help patients reach their goals. A Baylor and Regis University alumna, Michelle practiced internal medicine through a functional lens in Aurora, Colorado prior to joining Vibrant Health. When not with her husband and three children, she enjoys hiking, playing pickleball, tending to her “plant babies,” and staying active in her church.

View Michelle Sanders profile

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Dear Valued Patients,

It has always been my passion to provide high-quality healthcare that combines traditional medicine and functional medicine, all within an accessible, insurance-based model. As the owner of Vibrant Health of Colorado (VHC), my goal has been, and continues to be, to make this level of care as accessible as possible. All people should have access to personalized, compassionate, and effective healthcare, regardless of their financial status. Taking insurance has allowed us to offer this.

Insurance companies, however, have made this increasingly difficult. Due to changing insurance regulations, declining reimbursements, and rising operational costs, we’ve been faced with nearly insurmountable challenges in delivering the quality of care you deserve through the current system. These challenges have led to difficulties in scheduling timely appointments (some patients are waiting months to see their provider) and rushed visits, resulting in providers having less time to listen and thoroughly address individual needs. This creates late nights for providers, as they respond to portal messages, review lab results, and complete charting outside of clinic hours. Each of these factors is contributing to provider burnout and patient frustration.

As a team, we have considered many options that might improve the current situation. We have determined that a membership-based model is the most effective way for VHC to continue as a successful practice, providing exceptional and personalized care that genuinely focuses on building strong relationships with each of our patients. As of March 2, 2026, we will no longer accept insurance and will transition fully to a membership-based practice to support your health needs more effectively and sustainably.

What this means for our patients is that, for an affordable monthly fee, you will have access to comprehensive healthcare, including primary care, gynecology, hormone therapy, weight loss support, functional medicine, and all other services we currently provide.

This means:

No copays, deductibles, or surprise out-of-pocket costs to work with any of the VHC providers
Longer, more personalized visits
Same or next-day appointments for urgent concerns, excluding weekends/holidays
Short wait times for standard office visits
Greater access to your providers
More telehealth options and the ability to offer phone consultations
Wholesale lab costs (or labs can be billed directly to insurance)
A 10% discount on cash-pay services like hormone pellets and GLP-1’s

While I am genuinely excited about this new model, I understand that this change will be challenging for many, and for some, it will not be a good fit. We’ve worked hard to keep the membership fee as reasonable as possible, lower than comparable functional medicine practices, to make this transition accessible for as many of our patients as possible.

There are flexible options:

If you desire comprehensive healthcare, covering all your primary care, gynecology, hormone therapy, weight loss, and functional medicine needs, the full membership is the right option for you.
If you are currently on hormone pellets or GLP-1 injections for weight loss, and do not want to receive additional healthcare with VHC, you can choose from the following:
- Continue your hormone pellet therapy at your current rate, with one annual lab review included in this rate.
- If you wish to continue GLP-1 therapy without comprehensive medical care, our weight loss membership is the best fit, offering four annual visits at a low monthly fee.
We offer discounts for families and for annual memberships paid in advance.

Note to those patients currently required to have an office visit every three months for controlled substance refills:.

We do not want you to be without your medications, and we know it may take time to establish care with another provider. We will continue to see you for six months (two visits) without a membership while you find a new provider. Please see our website for details on how these visits will work.

We know this is a significant change, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Please visit the FAQ page on our website for detailed information, helpful videos, and answers to most of the questions you may have. https://vibranthealthofcolorado.com/faq/

While this new model will be able to meet many of your healthcare needs, we recommend maintaining some level of insurance coverage for emergencies and/or medical services beyond what our clinic provides. If helpful, we can provide you with the name and contact information of a local insurance broker who specializes in affordable health insurance options that can be combined with membership-based practice models.

Many patients may be able to use their HSA funds to cover their membership fees. This varies by plan, and there are limitations. To find out definitively, you will want to reach out to your HSA provider.

The number of available memberships is limited, as this will enable our office and providers to dedicate the necessary time to providing personalized care to our members. We are accepting enrollments now to secure your membership, but your membership payments will not begin until March 2, 2026. Patients who sign up now through November 17th, 2025, will enroll at a reduced rate of $249 a month. Enrollment on November 18^th and after will be $279 a month. We are also excited to be able to offer family discounts and a 20% discount for the primary comprehensive membership paid in full at the start of the yearly membership.

For those of you who find that a membership model is not the right option for you, we will help to ensure a smooth transition and make sure you have what you need, including your medical records, while you establish care with a new provider. We will continue to see patients through insurance, as we do now, through February 27, 2026. Effective March 2^nd, 2026, we will no longer be a member of OB/GYN affiliates, and will not be in network with insurance.

Thank you for your trust, your support, and the privilege of caring for you.

With heartfelt gratitude and excitement for what’s ahead,
Deanna Woodroffe, WHNP-BC,
Owner - Vibrant Health of Colorado