As co-founders of Empower Health, Rae and Helen thank our lucky stars every day that we get to work with these amazing people! Our team is made up of a diverse range of ethnic, cultural and demographic backgrounds and we have every age range from toddlers to grandparents as well as a dear animal companion supporting our efforts! And along with the faces above who are the people you will encounter when you come to the clinic, there are a whole host of people in the background who have contributed their skills in many ways over the years with everything from construction to bookkeeping. IT TAKES A TEAM TO RUN A CLINIC!
Finding customer relations, document and records management systems that support our mission and vision for TRULY integrated health services has been a big challenge. And it has been quite a journey to figure out how we communicate effectively and clearly with such a diverse range of professional and personal backgrounds. We are endlessly grateful to the developers of meeting and communication apps and platforms such as Zoom, Telegram and Asana, allowing the team to connect and meet regularly from any venue where there is a data or online connection. (And no, we are not being paid for the plug :-)
We also recognize and prepare for the fact that in any work team, members will have different ways of seeing and doing things, sometimes leading to conflicts and communication breakdowns. As such we support and provide opportunities for training of staff and practitioners in the conflict resolution and emotional processing tools offered by Landmark Worldwide and Clearmind International. These tools foster constructive dialogue which supports collaborative decision making in most aspects of our clinic operations.
It is a work-in-progress to implement our vision of transformational healthcare that is inclusive, non-hierarchical, and team driven, but it is work that is worth it! And as Douglas Rushkoff, author of the soon to be released book ‘Team Human’ says, “when we work together we realize greater happiness, productivity, and peace. If we can find the others who understand this fundamental truth and reassert our humanity―together―we can make the world a better place to be human”.
