Dr. Joel Bessmer, MD

Dr. Joel Bessmer founded Strada Healthcare in Council Bluffs in 2016, aiming to fix two problems plaguing primary care, rushed appointments and physician burnout.

Bessmer believes the traditional healthcare model rewards treating illness over promoting wellness, often describing it as a "sick healthcare system" where doctors get paid only when patients are sick. Strada was built to break from that structure by removing insurance-based constraints entirely. Patients get unlimited access to their primary care provider with no co-pays or deductibles to worry about, a structure meant to build stronger, more proactive relationships between doctors and patients.