GET FIT: Cochrane clinics offer something for every ailment
By: Rachel Maclean
After the EFW Radiology X-ray clinic closed its doors in February 2009, it seemed like Cochrane was at a disadvantage for medical services, considering the town’s new urgent care centre won’t open until 2011.
But a closer look shows there are plenty of exciting health developments in town — the first being plans for a new multi-disciplinary clinic.
Based out of EFW Radiology’s old office in Mainstreet Pharmacy located in the Cochrane Professional building on First Street, two pharmacists, one nurse and one clinical psychologist have banded together to create Inspiration Health Professionals.
Currently the space is being used for H1N1 immunizations, with the help of Inspiration pharmacist Sandy Dubyk, but Dubyk hopes it can be so much more.
Dubyk has been in the business for 20 years, and has his doctorate in pharmacy. He has worked in various settings from communities, to hospitals and Universities, as well as having done drug research.
His main focus is heart health and diabetes, which worked well with his last post with Pfizer Canada — the largest pharmaceutical company in the world — researching cardiovascular medicine.
But in summer 2009 Dubyk started to go through a job transition and was looking for a new direction.
He has always wanted to be able to use his pharmaceutical knowledge for more than just “counting pills,” and his wife, Melanie Pastuck (who is a candidate for her masters in nursing) always wanted to open a women’s clinic.
Pastuck is hoping to get accredited as a nurse practitioner, and Dubyk is looking to get accreditation for full prescribing privileges.
Dubyk said he was excited when the Alberta government implemented Phase 2 of its Pharmaceutical Strategy in October 2009, where pharmacists spend more time using their knowledge and skill to advise patients and fill prescriptions.
- Sandy Dubyk, who is starting a new health venture called Inspiration Health Professionals out of the Cochrane Professional Building, fills a needle with the H1N1 vaccine. Dubyk is hoping they can expand into a multi-disciplinary clinic over the next few months. Photo by Rachel Maclean
Dubyk, along with Ian Kruger from Mainstreet Pharmacy, is also participating in the Pharmacy Practice Models Initiative (PPMI), which looks to find out how community-based pharmacists can use their clinical skills in an expanded role of medication management.
“Skills that pharmacists haven’t traditionally offered in the past,” said Dubyk.
But they are hoping, with the help of their other Inspiration colleagues, to eventually help patients achieve bigger picture goals of wellness.
“Maybe start with a pharmacist, and then depending on what is needed the patient would be referred to other (health) professionals,” said Dubyk.
Patients can start at the Inspiration clinic and relay their health goals or symptoms, and then the office professionals work together for a solution, which includes referrals to doctors or other specialists.
Dubyk said they hope they can be in the new Cochrane Community Health Centre when it opens, and are also interested in joining Alberta’s Primary Care Network. But Dubyk said the first order of business is an information session in February for other local health professionals, as well as connecting with decision makers in the Town of Cochrane and the Stoney First Nation.
“It would be great to share ideas (with other health professionals),” said Sandy, adding they don’t want to take away from other health professionals, only complement their work.
And there is no lack of other health professionals in town.
Over at the Soulstice Wellness centre they have a Naturopath doctor, two massage therapists, massage chair, infrared sauna, stress management coach, mental illness councillor and a life coach.
“People come in and usually we send them to someone who benefits them best,” said clinic owner Kristen McClean.
Dr. Lynette Panych is the only Naturopath specialist in town. McClean said the great thing about naturopathy is that it focuses on preventative treatments, and even if someone comes in with a complaint the idea is to look at what is causing the problem instead of a quick fix to stop symptoms.
The centre also has a infrared sauna, which uses infrared heaters to emit a dry heat into the human body for detoxifying.
At the Cochrane Chiropractic Centre, which has the only X-ray clinic in town, chiropractor Dr. Eugene Kong (who is team doctor for the Generals hockey team) is joined by two massage therapists.
One of the interesting highlights of his clinic is it offers traditional Chinese acupuncture, with a modern electrode twist that stimulates the needles into unblocking energy centres.
Acupuncture can help with soft tissue damage, migraines, inflammation, swelling, and pain. Kong said for the Chinese, it’s all about energy fields. For example, a bad shoulder is a blocked energy field.
“Being Chinese I always grew up with that,” said Dr. Kong.
At the West Valley Chiropractic Office, chiropractors Dr. Amanda Tulk, and her husband Dr. Aaron Todd, are joined by a massage therapist and are the only ones in town to offer Pro-Adjustor technology.
Pro-Adjuster is a complete computer analysis adjusting system. After an initial inspection from a chiropractor, a client is hooked up to the machine to make sure the spine is moving in the right way.
The advanced technology, first designed by NASA, uses a series of small taps to monitor the spine and make adjustments, which takes away from the traditional twisting or cracking associated with chiropractic treatment.
Dr. Corrie Danner, of First Street Chiropractic and Massage, also offers a computer based technique for correcting problems with the spine.
Called spinal decompression, it’s a linear force pulling on the body to create negative pressure between each vertebra to cause a misaligned disc to be sucked back into place and create more space between the vertebrae so blood and oxygen can get into the area. It also removes spine pressure due to misalignment.
Cochrane even has family doctors still accepting patients. Currently at the Alpen Medical Clinic, three family doctors are partially open, and two new doctors are coming on staff and will soon be looking for patients.
So as Cochrane waits for the urgent care centre, there are still many health options open to the public.
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