Grand Opening and other updates

Great news and updates from the Topahkal clinic.

Most importantly, we used up another soap dispenser in the bathroom. This one was used up in less than 6 months, a sure sign we are growing. We could just count the number of visits but as scientists, it's always good to make sure we have corroborating evidence... :> Our patient numbers are vastly outgrowing our capacity. We are consistantly at 10-15 visits per day average with more days per month seeing over 20 patients. We had a new record of 26 patients the other day, which i'll write about in another post.

Almost as importantly, we started a Mercado ("store" in Spanish).

We are selling orgaqnic flax seeds for $2, Auralgan (ear drops for pain) for $4, urine pregnancy tests for $3 and local bee pollen for $2. As you can see, it's an integrated health convenience store. :>

I'd like eventually to be selling organic bulk foods, local organic produce and yogurt, wheelchairs and crutches and canes (organic if possible...), rice socks, tennis and golf balls (for acupressure treatments, although if my patients want to take up the sport, i'd encourage it), and various other sundries, like non-toxic deodorants and soaps.

Other than that, we are still on the hunt for another practitioner, PA, NP or MD. We have a few leads but nothing sure yet. And we are still looking to move our location to another house, larger and easier to find, that has the correct permits to have a business.

Oh yeah, and we are on the verge of signing our first contract with a local non-profit business that will use us for primary and urgent care for their workers coupled with a catastrophic medical plan for hospitalizations and emergencies. I'm a bit nervous, with contracts come the "devil in the details." But realistically, our non-profits are struggling under horrible payment plans right now with managed care companies, high to begin with, raising prices at lesat 15% each year. You can't budget for that in the grant world, it's impossible. So within a few months we'll see what kind of cooperative associations can be formed to help the non-profits and us do our jobs better.

andru