HELPcare Clinic Barn Raising
HELPcare Clinic is creating an affordable, personal health care option in Austin, Minnesota, giving members information, support and consistent primary health care.
We're making it affordable for members by keeping costs down, and as exemplified by yesterday's HELPcare Clinic Barn Raising.
We have a newly remodeled facility at 308 4th Avenue NW in Austin, but to have a clinic we need equipment and furnishings.
Those can be expensive, so to economize we found a used scientific and medical equipment warehouse in Big Lake, Minn.
That’s where the barn raising started.
We borrowed a van and trailer from one of our Founding Members, Jon Boyer, which saved the need to rent a U-Haul.
Dr. Dave Strobel and I took off just after 7 a.m. yesterday, stopping in Blooming Prairie for gas and coffee:
Scientific Equipment Liquidators in Big Lake buys and refurbishes used equipment from hospitals and medical practices.
For Dr. Dave, it was like being a kid in a candy store:
We were able to get three exam tables, a reclining phlebotomy chair, ophthalmoscopes and otoscopes, an EKG machine and much more.
Probably more than $20,000 worth of equipment for less than $5,000.
When we arrived back at the office, Founding Members Stan Miller and Eric Blust (and his son Eric) helped us immensely with unloading.
It’s one thing to use a cart to wheel exam tables up the ramp into the truck.
It’s another to carry and navigate through a relatively tight entryway and into the exam rooms.
Stan and Eric got the job done!
Stan also had some used locking four-drawer file cabinets to give, so since we had the trailer we went over to get those as well.
Building Value, Beating Supply Chain Issues
At HELPcare Clinic, Dr. Dave is focusing on creating a high quality, personal health care experience, and not spending extra on things that won’t make a difference to patients.
For example, getting this exam table new would cost $1,400 plus shipping, even with the group purchasing discount we get from a medical equipment vendor.
With the supply chain issues in today’s economy, it could take 2-3 months to get it. Dr. Dave and I went up to get three of these used ones for $425 each and brought them back the same day.
The Barn Raising Continues
Dr. Dave’s HELPcare Clinic is a ministry to the Austin community, and I’m honored to help him launch it as his administrator.
We’re gratified that we already have 125 Founding Members who have caught the vision, and that they’re stepping up to help in so many ways.
We still have some needs as we’re getting ready to open:
- Small desks for exam rooms
- Used computers (Windows or Mac)
- Office equipment (Printer, Copier, Fax or all-in-one)
- iPads
- Miscellaneous office furnishings and supplies (wastebaskets, mop and bucket, hanging file folders.)
In some ways, we don’t know exactly what we still need. We’ll be discovering that as we go.
Meanwhile, if you have anything to contribute, either from the list above or just something you think we might need, please give us a call at (507) 279-2345, send send us an email or mention it in the comments below.
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