The official opening of a group of health-related businesses at 535 Gladstone Ave. means Centretown residents won’t have to look far to pay a visit to their chiropractor, family counsellor and naturopath – potentially all in one go.
The hub is home to a new assemblage of health-and-wellness entrepreneurs offering a range of integrative health and educational services with a common goal – treatment in a convenient way.
“It’s a one-stop-shop basically,” says Karen VanDoorn, president of Reading Right.
Reading Right is one of seven specialty services the building houses. The remedial reading program works closely with children, adolescents and adults to treat dyslexia and similar reading deficits.
The other six services include anger-management counselling, a nutrition-focused weight-loss clinic, a naturopathy clinic, family counselling, therapeutic massage and chiropractic treatment.
“Bringing all these healthcare professionals together is a great idea,” says VanDoorn, adding that having a hub of similar (though separate) health services in one location provides clients with accessibility.
Professional weight loss coach Jessica Daoud, from Gladestone’s Energy Health and Wellness Centre, agrees that accessibility and convenience is one of the advantages of grouping together a variety of healthcare professionals under one roof.
“Most of the time with clients we see, there’s not just one issue . . . but several,” says Daoud. “Any chiropractor will tell you that a lot of back pain comes from excess belly weight, which is something we can help with. Sometimes depression follows weight gain and we have a psychologist facility for that. A naturopath would help with poor diet and lifestyle choices, which we also have access to. A lot of these things go hand in hand, and within one facility, we can address any need you may have.”
Mutual referrals between health practitioners is natural and benefits both client and practitioner, says Sunmi Cha, a naturopathic doctor who incorporates standard medical knowledge with therapies such as acupuncture and lifestyle counseling.
“One of the reasons I started my practice here is because the building is filled with so many other healthcare practitioners, so I knew there would be some internal referral,” says Cha, a first-time entrepreneur whose client base went from one, to six patients a week after she started at Gladstone nine months ago when the location first opened.
“Doing this for the first time, I realized there’s a lot of hard work involved, especially in marketing. This was a great opportunity to network and to bring exposure to myself,” says Cha.
Massage therapist Janet Penny agrees there is potential for mutual referral, provide there is respect for each other’s businesses.
“Our main priority is providing our clients with the best possible option. I don’t think anyone would refer another physician unless they really respected the people running the business,” says Penny.
Cha, Daoud, VanDoorn and Penny all say they expect more traffic throughout the building after the official opening where they will welcome chiropractor Maryam Hassanzadeheh, as well as two other new health practitioners at the building.
Penny says their goal for the open house is to educate the community about changing perceptions of health and wellness.
“As people expand their idea on what healthcare is, it expands past the traditional working model and it incorporates chiropractic and massage therapies, naturopathy, lifestyle counselling and more,” she says.
“This is a place where people can not only get treatment, but a lot of information about what these practices can give to them.”