ARH launches Lifestyle Medicine clinic in Hazard to fight chronic disease

Hazard residents dealing with obesity, diabetes, heart disease or stress-related illness now have a new option at the ARH Hazard Clinic: a Lifestyle Medicine service line designed to tackle chronic disease before it becomes an emergency.

Appalachian Regional Healthcare says the program launched with a grand-opening event on January 22, 2026, and the system announced it publicly four days later. ARH says it is the first health system in Kentucky to establish a formal lifestyle medicine program, and one of only a few in rural America.

The clinic is built around six core pillars: whole-food, plant-forward nutrition; regular physical activity; restorative sleep; stress management; avoidance of risky substances; and positive social connections. Nika Larian, ARH’s vice president of wellness, said the service is “not an add-on to an existing clinic visit” but a dedicated model with its own providers, time and resources. ARH says patients can meet one-on-one with a provider to talk through their goals and daily routine, then build a personalized plan. Follow-up care can come through in-person visits, phone check-ins or telehealth, and the health system says insurance is accepted and referrals are welcome but not required.

For Perry County families, the new service sits inside one of the region’s most important medical anchors. Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center was established in 1956 as one of the original nine Miners Memorial Hospital Association facilities. The 358-bed acute care hospital primarily serves Perry, Knott, Fletcher, Leslie, Harlan, Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley and Breathitt counties, and its campus also includes a psychiatric center designated for a 21-county region, a long-term acute care hospital, a cancer center, a Level IV trauma center, an accredited breast center and a DNV Primary Stroke Center.

ARH leaders say the clinic is part of a larger push to keep Appalachian patients healthier for longer. Roy Milwee, ARH’s chief ambulatory officer, tied the launch to broader prevention work across the system, including nutrition, physical activity, workforce wellness and community programs such as Food Is Medicine. Robin Magnani, ARH’s regional chief medical officer, said lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based specialty aimed at preventing, treating and, in many cases, reversing chronic disease.

That focus comes as national and state health data continue to show the pressure chronic disease places on counties like Perry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now provides county-level diabetes surveillance data, including 2020-2023 county incidence figures, while County Health Rankings & Roadmaps refreshed many county measures on March 25, 2026 using 2023 data. Kentucky’s 2023 State Health Assessment remains the state’s most recent comprehensive health review. ARH’s own Food Is Medicine work has already drawn attention locally, including an August 2024 event at Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center that brought out more than 250 employees, community members and patients, and a 2025 SOAR Healthy Communities Award. Rita Crum said the program gives patients the tools, education and support they need to make meaningful changes in their health.