It has been a full year since I returned to work after the birth of my son, 17 months old as of September 5th 2013, which also means we have been located in our current practice location for one year. This year has been wonderFULL! From a clinic perspective we have an amazing team up in our offices at the Cathedral Centre for Wellness.
Our Robinson and 13th Avenue location is a perfect one for us, and I adore my brilliant colleagues in naturopathic medicine: Drs. Marika Geis, Laura Stark and Allison Ziegler; as well as our incredible support staff: Michelle, Brittany and Kelsey.
I continue to be blessed with many dedicated patients who have been very generous in their patience with me and my somewhat limited schedule as I continue to prioritize time with my young family.
As for my still rather limited schedule:
1) Since I am a bumbling human, tripping and stumbling my way through life and parenthood just like you – trying to find my right foot to replace my second left food in this dance of life I refer to in my "balance" post– I am choosing to take time to do this inner “work” in amongst the schedule of work and family. Given the demands that require attention and my desire to give my daughter as many “mommy days” as I can before she goes off to school (next fall already!), I am still available only in clinic on a part-time basis.
I am in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday from about 10 to 4.
The kids go to a wonderful home daycare that is really like a second family to them, given the wonderful healthy loving environment they are in, and it is great but it also means that Joanie has a strict pick-up time of “no later than 5pm” (and preference for
4:45). This definitely has its challenges sometimes when trying to leave the office, however it is great as it adds to the time I can spend with my kids and preparing a
healthy supper for the family.
2) Though I am still working on creating “emergency” spots that my reception staff
can consistently book, this is a work in progress and for now I work these in at the beginning and end of my days as I can.
If you need anything at all short notice please email me or better yet call the clinic
and leave them a message for me and I will do my absolute best to accommodate you in the “flex” time I have at 10 and at 3:45.
3) I do have a cancellation list so, please, if you call the clinic and are unhappy with the date of your appointment being too far into the future, don’t hesitate to get on the list!
Cancellations always come up and I find that the Universe will work it out perfectly.
4) I am still not able to accommodate new patients into my practice. Sorry! It already
feels so difficult to ensure that existing patients have adequate access to me without having to wait too long. Luckily I work with three absolutely wonderful fantastic women that I fully respect, trust and recommend and know that you will be in great (if not better!) hands with one of them! www.cathedralwellness.ca for more details on their practice styles.
5) Ahh, email… while I still am willing to do email consults, I rarely save time in my days to attend to this and therefore you may be waiting awhile for me to read and
respond. I much prefer phone consults or in-person 15-min. emergency appointments. So please consider calling the clinic to set something up or
talk with me. I promise your wait will be less than with email!
6) I do send out a quarterly email from our clinic docs. You can view past copies on the Newsletters section of my site and email me to subscribe. I love providing information, education and inspiration to my patients and the public so my newsletter list is the venue I use for this.
Ultimately I will return to full-time practice within the next couple of years, as our family now feels “complete” and as my children grow older my re-commitment to work grows correspondingly.
Please do keep in mind that I continue to keep my practice open to those patients whom have seen me previously, even though it may have been many years and I welcome you back at any time if and when you feel drawn to working with me again.
Each day is such a rich experience for me, and I am ever grateful to have a job that I love so much that allows me to meet and get to know so many amazing people.
I look forward to continuing to serve patients for many years to come!