May 1st is celebrated by many around the world as International Workers Day. A time to celebrate and honour the work of people everywhere who work many essential jobs that are also low paying jobs – farm workers, preschool teachers, cooks, cleaners, and many other service industry jobs to name a few.
Some say that acupuncture was developed by and for working people – to support them in doing the hard and often physical work. Community acupuncture was also designed to support workers, by offering affordable alternative health care. Since opening in 2007, Hemma, and many other community clinics have offered services on a sliding scale fee structure. A sliding scale assumes that in society people have different incomes and different abilities to pay. The scale means that each person can choose a rate of pay based on their discretionary spending (what they can afford), and based on how frequently they need to come in. Despite the fact that some folks think we operate in a charitable way, this social business model has supported the clinic for the last 18 years – a win/win for you and us.
Right now working people are under ever increasing stress and difficulty when it comes to paying for things beyond the normal expenses of life such as housing, food, and transportation. That is why it is so important, in my opinion, that places like Hemma continue to flourish and grow, and that more places like Hemma are created. Help us continue to offer affordable care by telling folks you know about our services.
Thank you for your support, and your service to the community.