Local doc makes entrepreneurial leap with new hormone therapy practice Lumineux Health near Willow Lawn

A veteran physician and first-time entrepreneur has struck out on her own to open a practice devoted to hormone replacement therapy.

Amanda Vaughan recently launched Lumineux Health at 5008 Monument Ave., suite 102 in western Henrico.

A former partner at Virginia Physicians for Women, Vaughan said she started Lumineux after seeing a need from women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. She also saw an opening for a direct-pay practice, offering hormone therapy outside of the usual boundaries of health insurance.

“With the constraints that practicing medicine under the insurance model placed, I felt like I was not able to give my patients the time that’s needed, specifically as it pertains to midlife women’s health,” Vaughan said. “My patients had lots of questions and concerns, not only about the current symptoms that they were having, which many times start off very vague, but concerns about how this was going to affect them for the rest of their lives.”

While she has worked as an OB/GYN for more than 15 years, Vaughan founded Lumineux to serve both women and men. The clinic offers one-hour consultations and initial appointments are $499. The practice says on its website that ongoing hormone pellet therapy for women generally involves appointments every three months at $525 per visit, and for men, appointments typically two to three times a year at $999 per visit.

Vaughan and her husband are among the four partners who own the practice. They spent $350,000 to build out and equip Lumineux’s 1,850-square-foot office with three exam rooms. The business has a five-year lease on the space near Willow Lawn.

The practice opened to patients in late May. Vaughan has two nurses who assist her in seeing patients.

Vaughan said there’s a lack of practices similar to Lumineux locally, and that looking forward she is considering more locations in the Richmond area and beyond.

“I would say Richmond, for the size of the city, is more underserved in practices like this that only offer hormone replacement therapy. It’s not a saturated market,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan described the other two as silent partners who are local businessmen. Lumineux is her first time launching a business.

“It’s been a lot of fun getting it going, but it’s been an education in how businesses work and what hoops you have to jump through,” she said.

Vaughan said her former colleagues at Virginia Physicians for Women, which has six offices throughout the metro area, were supportive of her efforts to launch a practice of her own.

“They’re really excited for me to do this because they see the need,” Vaughan said. “They have menopause-certified practitioners too who take great care of women. But for women who want a little bit more time or a more in-depth approach, this is where you’re going to get it.”

Written by Jack Jacobs for Richmond BizSense