Seattle Bodywork Cooperative

Now that almost a year has passed after the formation of the Seattle Bodywork Co-op, I find myself more satisfied than I had anticipated with this endeavour.  I knew that when Richelle Ricard, LMP, RYT and I committed to building a new family of professional bodyworkers, that it would be exciting to continue my practice in the company of others in my own and related fields.  I had hoped that the atmosphere would be one of sharing of professional knowledge, and excitement in our individual missions as health care providers.  But what has developed has surpassed my expectations.

I think our success is largely due to our cooperative structure.  Many bodywork and alternative health clinics are run by one or two people functioning as employers.  They hire a staff of professionals to represent a desired range of care, and compensate them for their time or on a “per service” arrangement.  They also hire office personnel for centralized scheduling and record maintenance. 

But at the Seattle Bodywork Cooperative, we are a true Co-op of autonomous professionals.  We schedule our own appointments.  We maintain our own records.  And we work for ourselves!  This not only reduces waste and loss of value in the long run, it increases practitioner accountability to the client.  Because outcomes are placed squarely on our individual shoulders, we are all highly invested in providing the best care possible to everyone we work with.

We have been blessed with the wide variety of practitioners who have joined the Co-op.  I’ve seen and heard of members collaborating to discover different approaches to wellness.  And I have personally benefited from referring to and receiving referrals from others, to supplement care with the diverse modalities represented in the Co-op.  In many professions, people can become protective of their clientele, fearing the loss of business.  But for sole practitioners, the true measure of success is client outcomes, not the number of people that pass through the door.  When the objective is excellence in care, territorialism is a non-issue.  In the end, the client as well as the practitioner wins.

I look forward to many more years of deepening and widening my professional relationships here at the Co-op.  And I highly recommend this business structure to anyone interested in insuring integrity and vitality in their health care organization.

Categories: Announcements

Tags: Business, Cooperative, Health Care

One Response to “The Secret to Success”:

1. Richelle Ricard says:

   Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 5:05 PM

   I concur! My dreams are coming true each and every day. I feel so rewarded knowing that we have successfully created a space that offers practicing therapists a haven for their arts.

   When I began my practice all those years ago, I was so fortunate to have the support of mentors I looked up to and respected. I really don’t know if I would be doing this today without their inspiration and community. I want so badly to be able to provide that as well.

   I believe we are doing that here and by putting our community first and the bottom line second, we are helping shift the business paradigm. Thanks to all of our practitioners, we can help make lives better in our community and beyond.