Edina has no shortage of good internists, trusted medical spa providers and motivating personal trainers. The team at Wellness 65, however, is the first to bring those services to clients in one warm, modern and convenient location. Wellness 65 is the umbrella name for the three businesses operating in the new third-floor suite at 6565 France Ave. S., designed to feel like home, complete with a kitchen for cooking instructions and nutritional help.
Merlin Brown, M.D., set up his independent clinic, Southdale Physicians, with the Wellness 65 team because his personal philosophy of “whole person and whole body care” fit with the idea of sharing his workspace with liked-minded practitioners. Even with those of different fields such as Vanessa Brooks, owner of Pure Lux Whole Body Aesthetics, and Luis Leonardo, a personal trainer who owns Tres Sports and operates its top-notch gym on the premises.
A unique aspect of Dr. Brown’s practice is that he contracts with Medicare but no other insurance companies. “My patients, most of whom have insurance but cannot use it for my services, like that I work for each of them with no incentives over their heads,” Brown says. This freedom from insurance company protocol lets Brown deliver highly personalized care. Brown is a board-certified internist who uses traditional medicine wherever it works. His goal is to prevent disease before needing to treat symptoms.
Brooks is an experienced aesthetician and certified laser technician. She takes pride in offering new skin and body treatments in addition to injections, chemical peels and other anti-aging procedures. The Cynosure Elite+™ laser Brooks chose for Pure Lux is “the highest strength and most effective laser on the market,” she says. Pure Lux also features a sweat lodge, a room dedicated to infrared treatments. Brooks created a comfortable space with two beds and televisions streaming Netflix. She says the sweat lodge is “good for your skin, sleep, mood and a great detox for the whole body.”
Pure Lux also offers a newer body-sculpting technology called SculpSure, a 25-minute treatment using heat to reduce fat in targeted areas. “I love that I can help a client get safe and relatively fast results, but I can also refer clients to Luis at Tres Sports for continued health for the whole body,” Brooks says.
Leonardo’s background is in endurance sports. As a competitive triathlete for 21 years and a personal coach for 17, his style of training is individualized. He sees everyone from competitive athletes to heart patients to people entirely new to exercise. “I try my best to establish a personal connection with each client,” Leonardo says. Clients new to training in a private gym will appreciate the well-appointed spaces shared by the three businesses.
Jason Wang, a trainer at Tres Sports and a marketing intern for Wellness 65, visited Dr. Brown, but became intrigued with the entire concept. “Three business came together to create a wellness destination,” he says. Clients will appreciate the consistent values of privacy, personalization and convenience across all three businesses.
To find out more about Pure Lux, Southdale Physicians and Tres Sports visit their individual websites
