Dr. Lisa Roark is a family practice physician based in Cassville, Missouri. She completed her medical training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her residency at Cox Family Medicine Residency in Springfield, Missouri.
Roark opened her clinic, Roark Family Health, in 2015. Roark Family Health is designed as a direct primary care clinic, meaning she does not take insurance and provides unlimited visits for members who pay a monthly fee.
She offers medical cannabis recommendations for both members and nonmembers of the clinic. Roark’s clinic was the first clinic to offer telehealth cannabis certifications in Missouri.
Roark was voted the best physician in the cannabis industry by Greenway’s readers. She has not only dedicated herself to being a caring physician but to also be an active member of Missouri’s cannabis community.
Perhaps a reason why Missouri’s community has connected with Roark so strongly is that she herself is a patient. Roark tells Greenway, “Cannabis gives me relief. As most people know, I was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I quickly went from being the physician to being the patient. I’ve had severe pain from trigeminal neuralgia (a facial nerve affected by the MS) and have been able to avoid any pain medications and only use cannabis for relief of pain at night, as well as CBD during the day.”
“I’ve had so many heartfelt testimonies [about cannabis]”, says Roark. “The one that sticks out the most is a preacher who had ulcerative colitis. He had never used cannabis in his life, took all of the medications the specialists’ advised, and still ended up in the hospital about 6 times yearly for blood transfusions and high dose steroids. When he was finally able to try cannabis, it immediately put him into full remission and has had no ER visits since that time. I’ve also had many testimonies from patients with chronic pain, previously addicted to opiates, who now use cannabis and have a drastically improved quality of life.”
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