Private health care free of charge to the less fortunate

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The clinic Will offer therapeutic care, including care osteopathic, free to low-income people, thanks to the gift economy.

Nadia Lemieux

Wednesday, 28 march 2018 16:58

UPDATE
Wednesday, 28 march 2018 16:58

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MONTREAL – The Montreal low-income could soon benefit from private health care free of charge thanks to the initiative of two young osteopaths become entrepreneurs in community health.

The company Will be is based on the gift economy. Patients of clinics Will pay an amount between $ 65 and $ 100 for a session of osteopathy. Beyond the minimum, for every dollar paid voluntarily is a gift that will be redistributed to people in need in the form of therapeutic care free.

Osteopaths Jean-Félix Perreault and Michael Beausejour are the initiators of this community health project.

For more than a year, the two clinics serve as a prototype for their project. Located in Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region of québec and Sainte-Adèle in the Laurentians, these clinics have already raised 17 000 $ in donations, allowing it to offer more than 200 free health care.

The company is currently in the campaign sociofinancement on the web platform Ulule to raise the necessary funds to expand its services. About $ 10,000 have been collected in less than two weeks to create a web site.

Will now hopes to raise a 10 000 $ extra to open a third clinic in Montreal, six to eight months.

The “Airbnb” of the healthcare

Will be put online its new website this fall, which will take the tunes of “Airbnb of accessible care”.

Therapists who already have their own clinic can register on the site and provide care according to the model Will be.

“It decentralises our model. The next day, you can be anywhere in Quebec and in Canada. It is said “Airbnb” because it creates a community of people who want to make care more accessible,” explained Jean-Félix Perreault.

Therapists of all kinds will be able to offer their services, including acupuncturists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, psychologists or psychoeducators.

Barrier currency

In Quebec, the average cost of a consultation in osteopathy varies between $ 80 and $ 120 per session, a barrier monetary important for people in a situation of financial insecurity.

Some of the clients who are entitled to free health care Will have an income of less than $ 1000 per month. “Sometimes,” argued Jean-Félix Perreault, 85 $, it is their food budget for the month, and sometimes, it’s less than that.”

Mr. Perreault stated that they did not seek “to replace the public system, since his company is not intended to provide emergency care. “It is in the prevention and self-management. We want people who come to see us are in a process of better living. We want to raise awareness to take care of them.”