Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Covid: Clinic Crisis

Covid-19 has not been easy on most (unless you are in the business of making masks or brewing hand sanitizer). I have been trying my hand at a running a hybrid clinic. Mostly cash pay accepting a few insurances. Things seemed to be on the up and up in February of this year. 

It seemed like I was starting to make a little bit of money then things slowed down through March and April. In May things came to a screeching halt. My wife and I had some money tucked away but we are not independently wealthy by any means. We were losing money and panicking (if it was just my wife and I perhaps we would not have been panicking so badly but we have a troop of kiddos that depend on us... we have 5 kids!) 

Our business was bleeding money and after just 18 months the PT office was fragile. We started to scramble and began reaching out to past connections and God guided us to a past acquaintance. He was running a home health operation and they stayed busy through Covid thus far. 

I opted for a trial run. So I got a compact license for Texas and I left my wife and kids for a few weeks. I stayed busy seeing patients and called my wife and told her to start packing. We were in for a 1500 mile move. It seems nuts but this acquaintance was willing to pay us 100% of what he made off my visits as  a 1099. In a matter a couple of months I went from building a hybrid clinic to hitting home health hard. 

Talk about a trying year. I was so sad to see our clinic go and honestly a little part of me hopes I can try it again in the future. Fortunately I was leasing a small office and had been there long enough my lease was month to month.  I am still tying up the loose ends of closing down as I have had to try to learn all the nuances of home health. 

Never in a million years did I think I would be doing what I am doing now but that is just how the journey goes sometimes. We all have different paths as we are trying to create our best selves. 

I have been so busy in the recent past I have not had time to keep up with this blog (which is just a fun little hobby) but with this new found path I have a little more time. I'm hoping to stay a little more in touch. Also, I'm not the most poetic writer, my apologizes. 

I would love to hear where you're at in your journey as a PT or pre-PT. Has Covid thrown you for a loop like me? or perhaps nothing has changed for you. Comment... I would love to know what this past year has brought you. 

Looking forward to interacting with you.

Dalin Hansen, PT, DPT