About Us


Alternity Healthcare started as an idea to take what we know about preventing diseases and optimizing performance to find a more personalized way to care for patients, and to restore the critical bond between doctor and patient that has deteriorated in our current healthcare system. We combine extraordinary access, the latest high tech diagnostic tools, one-on-one coaching and high touch practices to design your unique personalized plan to improve your healh and help you attain peak performance.

The Alternity Healthcare model focuses on adding more vitality to your years; reducing disease risks and helping you enjoy a longer healthier life. We spend the time to understand your needs, goals and ambitions— and make them our top priority. It turns out that managing the aging process in this way is the ultimate in preventive wellness; and is more than that, too. Age management provides a continuum of personalized care, designed to prevent, treat, and in some cases even, reverse age-related physiologic dysfunction, disorders, and diseases. You will look better, feel better and perform better, longer.

Medicine – As It Should Be


Like most, I consider the healthcare system in this country to be broken and getting worse. It is not uncommon for a physician to see 30-40 patients per day and to have overall responsibility for a panel of 4000 or 5000 patients. Why? Because insurance companies reimburse based on volume, not efficiency or positive experiences. Doctors must also comply with arcane rules and standards that may not translate into what is best for your health. A large part of the problem is that the consumer of healthcare services has been separated from the payer of those services. We seem to have forgotten that the true purpose of insurance is to protect against the relatively uncommon, unforeseen, expensive or catastrophic events. That is how health insurance started out. But we have now become accustomed to our health insurance covering everything, including routine primary and preventive care. The solution is to reunite the payer and consumer of healthcare services. This concept, referred to as concierge, membership, retainer, direct-pay or boutique medicine has been around for a while, but has become increasingly popular in recent years.

What is concierge medicine? The concept is simple but fundamental. Your physician is retained in advance and limits the practice to a certain number of individuals or families allowing him to offer unprecedented levels of personalized care in a private setting. He serves as your trusted advisor. Your physician is paid for the relationship he has with you, and is incentivized to do things for you, rather than to you. Your physician is dedicated to optimizing your health and well-being and attends to your medical problems when they arise. Insurance coverage would remain an essential part of your care for prescriptions, labs, radiology, hospitalizations, surgery, or specialty consultations. A recent article in Forbes magazine suggested that “everyone should have a concierge doctor”.

I started Alternity Healthcare so I could practice medicine the way it should be practiced; engaging patients in their health and focusing on wellness, prevention and restoring vitality. In point of fact, our health is our most precious asset. And it is on matters of health that people are exposed and most deeply vulnerable. As a direct pay, concierge practice, I do not contract with insurance of any kind. Without being beholden to the whims of an insurer, I can spend as much time with each patient as they need, have the flexibility to see patients on short notice (often same day), and make decisions based on scientific merit. I could also remind you of our extensive evaluations and leading edge diagnostic equipment, the ability to have me involved in complex consultations, the wonderful atmosphere of our very private office and its staff, our implementation of telemedicine for your convenience, or your ability to reach me directly whenever you feel necessary. But in the final analysis Alternity Healthcare is much more than that; it is truly medicine as it should be.

Meet Dr. Ebanks


Dr. Ebanks is Founder and Medical Director of Alternity Healthcare, LLC. He is a board certified Internal Medicine specialist, with over three decades of clinical experience in Internal, Age Management and Longevity Medicine. Dr. Ebanks has pioneered an innovative concierge model of care focused on identifying key biomarkers and physiologic measurements in order to maximize performance as a means of managing the aging process and addressing the root causes of disease and dysfunction.

Dr. Ebanks was an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Medicine at Cornell University School of Medicine before launching Alternity Healthcare.

He has completed Physician Training in Age Management Medicine, jointly sponsored by the Cenegenics Education and Research Foundation and the Foundation for Care Management. He also completed training in Mind-Body Medicine at the Mind-Body Institute of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Ebanks earned his undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from Syracuse University. He graduated from Temple University School of Medicine and completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Harlem Hospital, a Columbia University affiliate, and SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in New York.

Active Memberships:

  • American Academy of Private Physicians
  • American College of Lifestyle Medicine
  • Age Management Medical Group (AMMG)
  • National Medical Association (NMA)
  • Harvard Medical School Postgraduate Association

Our Team


Amy Foster profile

Amy Foster, RN, BSN

Clinical Nurse Manager & Patient Care Concierge 
Amy comes to Alternity with more than 30 years of combined clinical and management experience in a busy Emergency Department, as a Recovery and Laser RN performing aesthetic laser services in a plastic surgeon’s MedSpa and supervising the care for elderly residents in a nursing home.  She is keenly interested wellness services and extending quality of life for our member patients.  She realizes that taking proactive steps to optimize health is key to avoiding the physical and cognitive deterioration she commonly saw in the nursing home.  Her empathy, experience and problem solving skills help to enhance our member’s experience

 

 

 

Graylen Ellis

Mobile Phlebotomist
Graylen provides a tremendous convenience for our patients as our mobile phlebotomist. He has been expertly drawing blood for more than 22 years, most of that time with Quest Diagnostics. Graylen has drawn praise for his painless technique from even our most needle-phobic patients, but he brings more than merely that exceptional expertise with him. His engaging, affable demeanor and witty sense of humor makes his early morning visits enjoyable. He is always on time at the agreed upon location and performs his work in a professional and efficient but pleasant manner. One patient’s comments are typical of what we hear about him: “Graylen is a great guy. What a joy. Perhaps the happiest person I have ever met. How can anyone be so happy at 6AM?” Graylen is a US Navy veteran. He was trained as a hospital corpsman during his tour of duty and has been stationed at numerous spots around the world.

Terra Health Coaching

Terra Health aims to empower our mentees to adopt a lifestyle that promotes health and sustainability.
We’ve partnered with Terra Health to better provide our patients with a complete wellness plan that addresses all aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Using a team approach to help our patients reach their health goals allows for more personalized recommendations across a broader array of expertise, culture and experiences.  They educate our patients on the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine: Nutrition, Physical Activity, Stress Management / Mindfulness, Positive Relationships, Sleep and Substance Management, to introduce positive changes into their lives in a manageable and obtainable way. They provide motivation and support during the coaching journey while honoring the fact that everyone is on their own unique journey to better their lives.  For many, change will be difficult. Support during the successes and failures will be reassuring and consistent, as meaningful change is not an overnight occurrence.  Our coaches focus on progress instead of perfection. Perfection is a direction, but not a place to land. Embracing this concept keeps patients motivated, encourages learning, gives them reasons to celebrate, and promote sustainable changes. Coaches help patients feel empowered by the progress they have made and the obstacles they’ve overcome!

While there is an expansive selection of coaches available to accommodate any need, culture or language preferences, we’ve selected our “starting team” of 6 coaches that we believe will be able to accommodate the vast majority, if not all, of our patients needs.

Ruby

Receptionist
Ruby is the pleasant and friendly voice you hear on the phone when you call our office. She effortlessly tends to our patients’ needs and remembers the details of their preferences while simultaneously managing a wide variety of administrative tasks. Her kind demeanor, attention to detail and dedication to excellence assures that our patients always have a first class experience.

Testimonials



Kevin Hoffman

Aerospace Engineer, Lewes, DE

Going to other doctors was basically a reactive type of thing you had a cold you had the flu somethings ailing and you go to the doctor and they’re basically treating the symptoms.  And so that’s a big difference in what Dr. Ebanks is doing.  It’s proactive medicine.  He is a center of excellence and he directs you to the exact specialist for your requirements…

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Craig McCurdy

Vice President, Environmental Systems Corp., West Hartford, CT

I have been a patient of Dr. Desmond Ebanks for about 26 or 27 months, starting in June 2011. I came in because I was stressed, overweight and working like crazy, and I wanted to make some lifestyle changes. I had met Desmond socially a couple of times. When I came in to see him,…

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Sandy Cloud, Jr

Chairman of the Board, UConn Health Center, Farmington, CT

“Executive Health” sounds like a fad to many people, but as an attorney, successful businessman and Chairman of the Board at UCONN Health Center, Sandy Cloud, Jr. knows how challenging it is to maintain his health given the demands his professional life places on both his time and energy. Although Sandy was in “very good…

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Lucy McNeece

Retired Professor, Paris, France

Life transitions are stressful events, just ask former UConn professor Lucy McNeece. Lucy experienced the death of her husband, a fight against cancer, retirement from her career, giving up her longtime home and the animals there she had cared for, and moving to a new home in another country, all in a very short period…

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Jerry Long

Retired CEO, Lakewood Ranch, FL

“I didn’t go to Dr. Ebanks to improve my golf game,” says Jerry Long, Former President and CEO of PCC Technology Group in Bloomfield, CT. “But it’s one of the results. My distance was going down, but now it’s up to what it was 10 years ago. Plus, instead of doing 2 to 3 pushups, I…