Year One at HELPcare Clinic

We opened the doors of HELPcare Clinic one year ago today.

My wife Lisa and I, along with Office Manager Coleen Olmsted, were there Feb. 1, 2022 to start setting up the office.

It was a pretty bare-bones feel that first week.

We didn't have internet service yet, so we had to use our mobile hotspots.

The freshly painted walls were bare, as were the vinyl floors.

That first week Dr. Dave Strobel had one day of appointments to see patients: Friday, Feb. 4.

On Saturday we regrouped to see what we were missing.

Like nurses. We didn't have any nurses that first day. We realized that need pretty quickly.

The following week Dr. Dave saw patients on Friday and Saturday morning. A couple of weeks later he added Thursday availability. Meanwhile he continued to work Monday through Wednesday in his other job with the Pipe Trades Family Health and Wellness Centers, in Eagan.

Thanks to the faith of our Founding Members, and their willingness to have less convenient services at first, we were able to gradually grow to fulfill what we had promised. Those who needed blood tests in the first two months had to drive to Bloomington for the blood draws, or wait until we could offer them on site starting April 4.

On April 7 we began our weekly radio program, Restoring the Soul of Health Care, on KAUS AM 1480. That program has been a great way for us to document, and announce, new developments as the HELPcare Clinic practice has blossomed.

In May, Nurse Practitioner Stephanie Kimmes became the second provider at HELPcare Clinic, and in June we purchased the InBody 570 to provide body composition analysis.

We like to describe the feel at HELPcare Clinic as "Norman Rockwell meets The Jetsons." InBody is definitely Jetsons technology.

With Stephanie and our nurses getting certified, we were able to begin offering DOT physical exams and both pre-employment and random drug testing services in July.

And speaking of nurses, we have built an outstanding nursing team starting with Pam Riley, Kathy Grabau and Rebekah Gatzemeyer and later adding Hannah Blocki, Heather Klouse and Erin Dornink.

Lori Reuter joined as a part-time receptionist in May. We offered metabolic health coaching and produced several video learning modules on health topics throughout the year.

We picked up the pace in the last half of the year, with developments including

• A booth at the Mower County Fair with attracted several new clinic members as well as one of the above nurses
• Adding a dispensary to provide generic medications as part of the HELPcare Clinic membership
• A series of workshops called "Preparing for Open Enrollment" to help people understand how HELPcare Clinic membership complements health insurance
• Publishing a free educational booklet, Saving Through Membership,
• Creating and getting tax-exempt status for HELPcare Foundation,
• Developing group membership rates and the HELPcare Clinic Champions program,
• Investing in more Jetsons technology to improve the experience of HELPcare Clinic members,
• Announcing the Founding Member phase and beginning to see patients at HELPcare Clinic Rochester, and
• Adding a third provider, Physician Assistant Elizabeth Hedlund, starting tomorrow morning.

Forming our content development team starting in early September made this acceleration possible. That team includes Rachel (Aase) Borg, Joe Aase, John Aase, Bella Aase, Alexi Aase and Madeline Strobel.

Notice any patterns in that list?

Lisa and I are grateful to have all of our six children (and/or their spouses) pitching in make HELPcare Clinic a reality, including our missionary daughter, Ruthie Aase Hoot, who helps with data entry from Sofia, Bulgaria.

They encouraged us greatly a year ago this morning by sending a plant to adorn the front desk, with a card that read:

Mom and Dad,

We love you and are so proud of the work you are doing! We hope and pray that this clinic serves the Austin community for many years to come!

Love, Your Children

That's our prayer as well. We're delighted that they're now working alongside us, and thankful for all of the people listed above. We also appreciate the members who have believed in HELPcare Clinic and joined to get unhurried, consistent personal primary care through an affordable membership, and to help it thrive as an alternative in our community.

Update (2/2/2023 - 11:40 pm) Lee Aase and Dr. Dave Strobel joined John Wright to discuss this on KAUS 1480 this morning.

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Lee Aase

Lee Aase is the founder of HELPcare LLC, which provides comprehensive membership, marketing and management services for provider-owned HELPcare Clinics, as well as metabolic health education and coaching for people interested in restoring health and reversing disease through lifestyle changes. Lee and his wife Lisa live in Austin, MN and have six married children and 18 grandchildren.