About Lauren Wheeler, Patient Advocate

Lauren Wheeler, BCPA, MD

I am a board-certified patient advocate, former family medicine physician and medical writer/editor. After graduating from medical school with an MD, I entered a family medicine residency program but left early, dusted off my journalism skills, and switched into medical writing. My focus was on creating well-researched patient education materials that anyone could read. I have always been passionate about enabling informed decisions. (I even spend my volunteer time with the Humboldt Literacy Project.)

During the pandemic, I got tired of living in Kansas City, packed everything into a little trailer, and resettled to my new forever home in Humboldt. I officially launched the patient advocacy branch of my career in 2022. Currently, I split my time between editing/reviewing nonfiction work (mostly related to healthcare) and direct patient advocacy with occasional speaking/writing engagements.

I love working with pieces of information to shape a story. “Information” might be a 10,000-page medical history, research articles about a condition, or a raw book manuscript. In all cases, its about telling a story that’s interesting and supplies accurate answers to relevant questions for the reader.

I love to learn more to answer questions about diseases, diagnostics, procedures, therapies, and outcomes; I believe one of my strengths is transforming technical, medical jargon into easily understood information.

As a patient advocate, I work for you to make sure that you get the healthcare that you want and need. I am in no way licensed to practice medicine, nursing, or anything else. I cannot (and don’t want to) replace your doctor, but I can help you navigate healthcare as only an insider could.

Because Lost Coast only accepts payments directly from clients, families, or those who choose to pay on their behalf, we can truly prioritize the client’s wishes. I don’t work for or answer to any insurance company, hospital, or other institution. This is the meaning of an “independent” or “private” advocate. Because of this, Lost Coast cannot accept insurance payments at this time and will never sell client information or take money for referrals.

I am happy to provide you with my full curriculum vitae (CV) and references upon request.

A note on pronouns: Because Lost Coast Advocacy is my business, I am ultimately responsible for all client experiences. I never subcontract without explicit permission, but I do occasionally hire people to help me with tasks like invoicing or marketing. For that reason, I’ve chosen to use “we” in some materials. I also use she/her as a human.