Conquering adversity for the sake of his patients

Dr. Scott Emery faced the challenges of COVID-19 and emerged victorious with a slick new clinic and an expansion of services

Dr. Emery is fiercely dedicated to his patients and his clinic. — Photo courtesy Dr. Scott Emery

Dr. Scott Emery, owner and founder of the Institute of Movement in Trail, has been making tremendous strides in his business. In November of 2019, he relocated his multi-modal clinic and renovated the space, creating a smoothly integrated centre for clients to seek chiropractic care, acupuncture, physiotherapy and other services.

Dr. Emery was kind enough to take some time out of his day and answer our questions:

How did the clinic relocation go?

We have relocated now. I took over the historic old post office in Trail in November of 2019. My father-in-law and I proceeded to completely gut the space so that I could turn the tired old building into a modern and contemporary multidisciplinary medical practice. We took the 2,300-square-foot blank canvas, and were able to build 10 treatment rooms for varying medical disciplines (including chiropractors, physiotherapists, acupuncturists, registered massage therapists and naturopaths) as well as a 600-square-foot movement/rehabilitation and education gym space where myself and all of my rehab focused practitioners can retrain their patients preventatively and post-injury. The space is also complete with powerlifting and olympic lifting equipment so that I can provide sport-specific strength and conditioning to my elite athletes in a one-on-one environment.

What’s happened in your business lately, that you’re especially proud of?

The rebranding, relocation and complete buildout of the new space has been incredibly rewarding! After 12 years in practice here in Trail, I knew I needed to undergo an expansion. My previous space could no longer handle the volume that my practice had grown to. So over the last several years I had been planning what my dream clinic looked like. When I finally agreed to take over the historic post office as the new location I knew I had my hands full. It was a big project. But in the end, the opportunity to give new life to a historic building that had fallen out of repair was well worth all the efforts. I'm certainly proud of the final outcome of the project. It's a modern, fresh and empowering space to work in everyday!

Can you tell me about something you struggled with, and how you overcame it?

We worked tirelessly day in and day out, endlessly demoing, renoing, and rebuilding the space from November through February. When Family Day came along we were almost finished - electrical/plumbing/drywall/paint/lighting all the major projects had come to an end. My partner Julia (also an acupuncturist in the office) and I were finishing the flooring in the space with her dad and I realized that we might actually be able to move the old practice and set-up the new one ready for business on April 1st. Unfortunately, less than a month later COVID-19 forced me to close my doors completely. I was gutted, six months of incredible amounts of work and huge investment to try and get open for March/April and all of it came crashing down. We were completely closed for nearly three months. It pushed me financially to the brink, and it was everything I could do to fight tooth and nail to keep my business alive.

But thankfully on June 1st we started a gradual return to safe operations, through good communication with the patient base and an incredible team that rose to the occasion I feel we have created the safest environment of any business in the Kootenays. Patients started to flow back into the new space and we have steadily grown over the last several months yet still been diligently focused on maintaining our safety procedures so that we can adapt to the ever-changing nature of COVID. It's been a challenging road, but it feels great to be practicing in some capacity again. I am so grateful to this community for placing their health in our hands and supporting us through these challenging times.

What’s your superpower and why?

I'm not sure if it's my super power or my greatest flaw. But I think my obsession for quality in everything that I do is probably my super power. It is deeply ingrained in me, it doesn't matter if it's building my dream clinic from the ground up, providing my patients with the best possible opportunity to regain health...even in the most challenging of cases, developing the best multidisciplinary team in my clinic or managing this viral outbreak and maintaining the safest possible environment in my practice. If I am going to do something it is going to be at the highest level of quality. If I can't do that, I probably won't do it at all!

In terms of your business, what are you most looking forward to?

I truly believe we have just come through the hardest time my business will ever experience. But we have made it to the other side, and I feel like the sky is the limit. The new practice allows me the space to grow my already incredible team with more like-minded practitioners who place a premium on patient-centred care. It gives me the room and the gym space to grow professionally and start going back to my roots in movement and strength and conditioning uniquely blended with my work as a sports chiropractor.  I am extremely excited to watch my dream practice come to fruition and see what it develops into over the next 12 years of practice.

Is there anything else you would like to mention?

Just want to share my gratitude to my entire patient base in this spectacular community for their support, understanding and commitment through these challenging times.