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Latitude Pediatric & Family Clinic, Vanessa Hamalian
My SCORE mentors walked beside me for the better part of my first year in business. They supported me through the crazy fluctuations that the COVID pandemic brought and helped me stay focused on what was most important, including marketing, financial stability, legal matters, and everything that needed to be addressed in a fledgling business. We are proud to have almost a full schedule which has required us to grow from 1 to 3 people over the time spent with the SCORE mentors (which was during a pandemic and time of economic upheaval). We also developed marketing strategies that continue to serve us well.
We are a Nurse Practitioner owned and operated à la carte concierge Pediatric and
Primary Care Clinic. Our unique approach is to provide concierge service without the
annual or monthly recurring fees. We do not accept any insurance; this allows us to
accommodate each person’s unique beliefs and wishes at an affordable rate without
pressure or coercion. We enable the patient, through education, to make decisions for
themselves.
I have a passion for the individual’s right to autonomy. There was a death in my family which ended up being a big catalyst for starting this business. This story of an unnecessary death solidified in my mind how important the individual's right to choose is. My aunt, in her 40s, developed a breast lump, she had a belief that a biopsy would spread cancer and so she started her quest to find a surgeon that would remove the lump without a biopsy. She was refused over and over because it was not standard of care to do a lumpectomy without a biopsy. She died as a result of not being able to get the timely care that she required. As a side note, she had the cash to pay for the surgery, and she was willing to pay, this was simply a case of her being refused care because she wanted something that was
outside the norm.
Being a family doctor and providing care to the entire family, from birth to the end of life, has been my dream since childhood. However, life does not always go as we wish. Being raised in a very rural, conservative setting, with my secondary education ending with the 8th grade, the very thought of med school felt unattainable in young adulthood. Instead, I started with entry-level nursing, working and paying my way through each degree. Now, while not the Physician I wished to be, I have been able to realize the bigger part of the dream, to create that small, friendly, family clinic. The desire to provide respectful care to the whole family was solidified during my time as a hospital nurse. This experience left me disenfranchised by the state of the healthcare system in this country and I became passionate about Patient Rights and Patient Autonomy. This passion has become the foundation for Latitude Clinic, where the patient is the center of each interaction.
We respect our patients, we respect their right to choose and this makes us unique in the healthcare arena where most medicine is ultimately driven by the requirements of the health insurance industry.
I heard about SCORE on a Nurse Practitioner's Business Facebook page.
The SCORE mentors helped to keep me focused on the most important tasks at hand, They assisted me in identifying my key partners, key activities, and value proposition. We created goals and followed up on the progress toward those goals. While I specifically was looking for assistance with marketing ideas, the advice and assistance that was shared with me, moved way beyond my initial request and they provided perspective and insight in almost every aspect of my business.
My mentors supplied me with tools, brainstormed with me, encouraged me, and held me accountable. They came up with
great suggestions and were a sounding board for my ideas and the presentation thereof.
Never stop asking and learning!
Utilize this wonderful resource! It is truly amazing to see accomplished successful professionals share their time and wisdom in such a selfless
way.
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