Winter Newsletter 2024

Hello good people of Populace. 

    Happy New Year. It’s officially winter and such a beautiful time of year. I’m looking forward to street lamps in the fog, the smell of snow blowing off the mountain, softly layered sunrises; yes even the cold and stormy days. But, that’s not what this newsletter is about so I’ll focus up. 

    As many of you know, Populace Wellness went through some big changes last year, adding the immense scope of Chiropractic Therapies to the practice. While Populace Wellness is going on 11 years of licensed massage therapy, and several more years of herbalism experience, the ‘Doctor of Chiropractic’ licensure is new as of 2022. 

    In respect of that newness, all cash services stayed at the same rate they were before chiro licensure. Now with time, experience and modality integration increasing, it is time for a pricing update. I appreciate that this change may be shocking or difficult for some. Please know that I respect whatever you decide is best for your care. All prices were selected in the interest of sustaining core values at Populace Wellness. 

    Here are a few Populace values. 

Continuing to: 

• both volunteer and provide low-income services every quarter, to neighbors in need

• accept Kaiser CHP insurance in enthusiastic support of our public school teachers and social workers

• keep sessions longer (a minimum of 60-75 minutes), aka the “slow and low” method of bodywork, aka the opposite of high volume. This means your care is not rushed, and each of your cases is handled attentively

• have the time, resources and energy to provide extra care/increased appts when needed

And finally being able to:

• offer more “urgent care”/short notice injury-recovery appts

• bring back classes and cohorts (small classroom space rental in Portland has previously been out of my price range)

• afford other long-awaited improvements like a paypal card reader, an electric lift table, a hot towel warmer, more sustainable furniture, replace any long-used supplies that need updating

• afford to stay in Portland without living below the poverty line while self-employed (this will be the biggest change for me personally in 2024).

Some history and the future of pricing at Populace Wellness. 

    Did you know that the $110 hour price Populace was recently charging for all-inclusive combination therapy is the same price that many fellow alum charged for 55 minutes of just deep tissue or relaxation massage, right out of massage school in 2013? 

Wow that was a long time ago.

Going Forward

    Instead of charging a lower price for single appointments, more affordability emphasis will now be placed on package discounts of 10%, 15% and 20% respectively. These can be purchased in the scheduler via PayPal. And, did you know that FSA or HSA cards can be used on PayPal, where applicable? Please feel free to reach out if you need help purchasing or scheduling your package appointments.

Here is the link to learn more: Packages & Gift Certificates

    And, of course, Populace Wellness will always continue to have low-income plan options. Please reach out to learn if you qualify. Many people in Portland do, as inflation and the average wage are not currently proportional. I encourage you to reach out if you’re curious about lower payment options. There are gaps in care accessibility and Populace aims to fill them whenever possible. You’re not taking care from someone else, you are seeking it for yourself, and that is a good thing.

So what are patients paying for in a ‘Combination Therapy’ session?  

    With every combination therapy session, returning patients will receive 1 massage therapy session, 1 chiro session, educated herbal and nutritional consultation (as relevant), therapeutic exercise (education and support), orthopedic exams, and office visits. If you were to see several practitioners for these separate visits throughout the month, you would spend approximately $400-$500. And, that amount could vary greatly depending on the practitioners seen. 

    At Populace, the new charge (for an advance-scheduled returning patient 60-75 minute session) is a flat rate of $260. While a change may take some getting used to, paying for care appointments together/in-combination, is also a benefit. Combination therapy allows patients to pay for fewer total office visits. Here, there is no need to repeat a full health history or re-explain a detailed injury history at every intake. 

    However, I think the best part of a combination therapy session is in the way the different modalities support each other. The massage lends to the chiro, which lends to the efficacy of the exercise, which (often) lends to positive feelings and awareness of change and movement; of being helped. I genuinely believe that combination therapy enables more continuity of care and importantly, more lasting benefits from the physical care provided. And that is something I love to see.

So that is it

    I hope you all feel welcome to reach out if you have questions or concerns. I sought a lot of professional advice on how best to go through a rate raise of this nature but, as with most significant changes, it will still be a learning curve we go through together. 

    I didn’t go as high as I was told to, and I didn’t go as low as I was asked to. Isn’t that just the definition of a compromise? “Nobody gets their way, but everybody’ll be okay.” 

I hope you have a beautiful winter.

See you on the table,

E.R. aka Dr. Turner, LMT DC

(541) 521-3090