Greeley’s troubled Insta-Care clinic reopens

HEALTH CARE

GREELEY – Insta-Care Family Medical Center in Greeley has reopened under its original management, after shutting down for more than two weeks.

Clinic director Dr. Gregory Denzel has resigned as a condition of a settlement that ends a heated dispute between Denzel and the owners of the clinic.

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The clinic went into receivership Feb. 11 due to the dispute but has been returned to the control of the clinic’s business partners.

Despite Denzel’s comments in April that Insta-Care was likely to file bankruptcy, and he planned to take over ownership of the clinic, Joseph Scheeler, clinic chief executive officer, said there was no intention to file bankruptcy or to allow the clinic to fall into other hands.

Scheeler said the settlement prohibits him from disclosing the nature of the disagreement. But with Denzel’s departure, he anticipates the clinic will once again operate smoothly.

Financial straits caused by the rift between Denzel and the clinic owners still pose a threat to the clinic’s survival, but Scheeler is confident that additional commitments of funds from the partners and community support will put the clinic back on track.

“It’s been a stressful time, but I think we’ll recover,” Scheeler said. “We’ve lowered our rates and hired a marketing representative, but nothing has changed in terms of who’s operating the clinic. The partnership is very conservative and by the book with the idea that we can provide affordable health care and make a modest profit over time.”

Scheeler said he and his partners would like to attract a private investor in order to keep the clinic, which serves 45 to 50 patients a day, a free enterprise.

“We provide an important service to the public as well as a choice in health care, and over time the operation could be lucrative,” he said. “We’d like to keep it private, but we may have to entertain some things with some bigger folks down the road.”

Local offer mind-body training

FORT COLLINS – “Awakening Technologies,” a partnership of three local health professionals, is offering training programs for individuals and businesses designed to improve mental and physical health through the latest techniques in mind-body medicine.

MaryBeth Bradley, general manager of the Healthworks health club; Malcolm Dayton, a licensed counselor and owner of Full Living Health and Wellness; and Sara Stenson, tai chi instructor and owner of Turtle Lake Healing Center, have devised an eight-hour program to help people stay more focused, eliminate the chaos of day-to-day life and access more creativity.

“The intention is to help people be more mindful – more present in their lives,” Bradley explained. “The program includes an educational piece and a practical piece, with an emphasis on breath awareness and tai chi movement.”

Bradley said the city of Loveland will offer the program to its employees in June, and the partners are also talking with the cities of Fort Collins and Estes Park.

The group will hold a free demonstration of the program June 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Healthworks. Call 226-8786.

Managed care code of ethics eyed

The Rocky Mountain Center for Healthcare Ethics, a non-profit resource and consulting center, has produced a proposed Code of Ethics for Managed Care in Colorado.

The code would evaluate health-plan personnel, employers, providers, patients, consumers, legislators and regulators.

The working document is the culmination of seven months of study and fund-raising and the work of a 20-member steering committee representing all stake holders to identify and prioritize ethical issues associated with managed care.

“The idea is to raise consciousness and start a conversation among a mix of stake holders in the health-care industry,´ said Gerry Heeley, senior consultant for the center. “There will be no ethics police to enforce this code – no requirement for compliance, but we hope it will encourage the different groups to more clearly identify their own responsibilities and what they can expect from others.”