By Holly Menino

EUGENE, Ore. -- As the debate over health care reform rages on in Washington, two medical professionals in Eugene are taking it upon themselves to improve the system.

Dr. Martin Hurtado and Nurse Practitioner Eva Schmidt left Springfield Family Physicians to start the Inkwell Medical Group, their own family practice center at Crescent Village. Their focus is on the preventative side of health care in an effort to reduce chronic disease.

Hurtado and Schmidt see less patients on a daily basis than other clinics, but they spend more time with each individual patient in one check-up, which means the patient has fewer follow up visits.

Schmidt says as a country, we need to start looking at health care differently and see preventative care covered more by insurance companies.