The Hope Health Ventures continues on its road to creating a post secondary institution, as well as a research and initially a naturopathic clinic in the valley.
This week, project leader Jon Ohlhauser is on the road recruiting for a naturopathic doctor interested in building a practice in the trading area. Last week the group held an open house to update the community and supporters of the project.
Wayne Hove said they had a committed group of stakeholders come out to the meeting. Hope Health laid out the future plan of action for the movement.
“The trio of the Hope entities have always been a part of our overall plan,” said Hove. “We have engaged the community for about a year, it was time we shared these activities we have been working on, particularly in the area of Hope Clinic.”
He explains they have come upon a great opportunity for the clinic to begin delivering naturopathic therapies in the area. Part of that is looking at delivering these services to remote locations through telemedicine.
He said Dr. Olfert was a pioneer in the field of telemedicine.
“We hope to engage the clinic in a naturopathic field and would like to bring innovation into medicine by trying to change the paradigm where we can go to the people, rather than have the people come to us,” said Hove.
He said naturopathic medicine is growing and is widely accepted in Western Canada.
“We do have a market, but it is a dispersed market. To ask someone to come from Lloydminster to Drumheller for an appointment is beginning to be a stretch, but if we can take the telemedicine to Coronation, Hanna and Viking, Statistics Canada says Western Canada is engaging in the naturopathics more than Eastern Canada,” said Hove. “There is no coverage east of the Number 2 Highway and north of the Bow River. That whole area is a marketplace, but we need the telemedicine to reach that market place.”
Hove reaffirms the college is the core and the goal.
“The clinic has its own goals but it will be structured so that its revenues and human resources interchange between the college and clinic,” said Hove.
So far, the initiative has raised just over $400,000, about a quarter of its way toward its goal.
Its current goal is to look at doubling what it has raised by going to the community and then looking at engaging possibly a single partner.
“We are going to do some research on a set of particular individuals and look at how Hope College and Hope Clinic actually aligns with their vision and see if we can drive support in a combined effort to support health within certain corporations that already exist,” said Hove.
As a rough time line, Hove said they hope to establish the clinic by this August, and aim for the fall of 2013 for the college. Plans are to use the former St. Anthony’s School.
“There will be a college of that nature in our community, the banner is as high as ever,” said Hove.
