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.