Dr. Gordon Hasick

Questions and Answers with NUCCA Director Dr. Gordon Hasick.

Q: What does the Small Steps program do for NUCCA research?

A: What Small Steps does for research is quite significant!

Last year we were able to raise enough money to activate a $50,000 matching grant from the Tao Foundation in Calgary. This money was sufficient to help fund the Phase Contrast Study. This initial money was important to activate further support of three other organizations that came in for the balance of the funding.

For other supporters and foundations, it is important for them to know that we come to the table with a certain amount of financial resources to fund our projects. We need to demonstrate this capability first before others are willing to invest in our programs. One of the corporate sponsors sent us a cheque for $25,000 and it was listed as “an investment”. I look at the money we raise as an investment in our future.

Q: How have you initiated the program in your office?

A: When I initiated the Small Steps Program in our office last year, for me it wasn’t about asking for something that directly influenced me personally. It was an invitation to support our work as a whole.

After 30+ years of being involved with the NUCCA work, I have a deep respect and appreciation for the power of correcting the Atlas Subluxation Complex. A great gift to me was the opportunity to study and learn from Dr. Gregory. He is still my mentor through the teaching and writings he has left for me and others. I went through the certification process with him and look back now and see the depth of wisdom that he shared. It has taken many years to fully appreciate this gift.

Thirty years into practice and I continue to find it even more of a privilege to be able to take care of people by attending to the Atlas Subluxation Complex. The miraculous changes I have seen for many people, including my own life, have profoundly influenced this deep sense of appreciation. Asking for money to support our research that will help us better understand the mechanism and physiological benefits of the NUCCA work are of great value to me.

Initiating the program in our office became simple. There is a small office poster we created (that is available online at the NUCCA website under downloads) and I put a copy of this poster in every room. When my patients are brought back to wait, the staff would simply ask them to review this annual fundraising campaign. After we were done with their clinic visit, they would check out at the front desk where the staff would simply ask if they would like to make a donation to research.

For many patients, when asked whether they would like to donate to research, broke into an extensive conversation about how it had saved their life. The whole waiting room got to benefit from the conversation and testimonial of how important their care was.

Q: What good things have developed from this program in your office, and others?

A: Perhaps the greatest benefit of the Small Steps Program was experienced in these conversations that took place in the practice!

This seemed to breed a real strong energy within the practice for the month that we ran the program. My stats revealed that it was one of our busiest months of the year! I attribute that increase in activity to the increased energy and the positive conversations that the patients, staff and I were all having.

I believe that to be successful at fundraising, one has to have their heart and commitment attached to whatever cause they are fundraising for. For me, my heart is in this work and it is easy to get behind the request.

I have been very surprised by the responses from people in my practice. Some patients give $5, but that $5 was like $5000 for them. As a result of the conversations during the program last year, one of my patients has made an annual commitment of $5000 and wants to make it an ongoing relationship, not just a one-time event. Other patients would give $50, $100, $500 or even $1000. You never really know what some people are willing to support until an invitation is extended to them.

One of the best things that has happened from running this program in our office is the greater awareness and gratitude for the work that we do. The difference that it makes in so many peoples lives is profoundly seen in the stories and conversations that take place around the research fundraising campaign. I really got that my staff, my patients and myself are deeply committed to insuring that future generations continue to benefit from this amazing work.

One of the greatest challenges in this fundraising process is to overcome is the hesitancy to ask for help. Patients come to us every day asking for help and we are more than willing to offer that support through the care we provide. In turn, we might ask them for help and support in a way that will help sustain our work for the future generations.

Dr. Gregory left us a great legacy and one that deserves ongoing respect and support. I encourage everyone to be involved in the small steps program and to give it a try to see what is possible for your office. The energy, the conversations, the intent, may surprise you.

Please take time to participate.

Thanks to Dr. Gordon Hasick, for taking time out of his busy schedule to tell us why he is so passionate about the Small Steps to Success Program.

The Autumn 2010 issue of the NUCCA News is now published online. Featuring this inspiring patient spotlight, from a professional entertainer and magician, Ben Ulin and his wife Margaret.

“It was truly an overnight situation for me,” Ben said. “The swelling was gone. The tightness in my calf was gone. I continued the exercise program. I ran another mile. No problems, no issues. The calf has felt the best it’s ever felt since 2003. The evening cramps are completely gone.”

It’s a hot summer afternoon in Oklahoma when Dr. Robert Brooks takes pause from his fast-paced life to share the story of how his Stimulus Package became part of his practice.

Dr. Brooks explains that during the past two years, he noticed a slowing of new patients which by the end of 2008 had dwindled to one or two a week, a fourth of what it had been for many years. Admittedly, the economy and the effects of it were keeping people from spending money, and his existing patients who would normally be sending referrals were no longer doing so.

Times have definitely changed and the priorities for seeking healthcare have changed along with it.  People who once selected care according to quality are now being driven by cost considerations.  According to Brooks, the question to address was what would it take for people to get beyond any perceived barriers to try the NUCCA work?  Since it was apparent that expense was creating resistance, Dr. Brooks decided to reduce his new patient fee by more than half of what it had been for more than 12 years.  His comprehensive initial package that includes x-rays had been billed for $800.00 and now, the number that remained in his thoughts was a mere $375.00.

Still not sure about the number, he spent two weeks talking to patients asking what fee would be reasonable enough for them to feel comfortable making a referral.  He says he literally ran the numbers from $800 down to $375, and each time, the reaction was negative until he hit that last number.

When asked if anyone who paid the $800 was now miffed to hear new patients could begin treatment for such a reduced fee, he said only one patient commented and the reply was that he would have paid three times the old fee had he know what the NUCCA work can do!

So as of January 1, 2009, Dr. Brooks implemented his Stimulus Package and the number of new patients increased dramatically.  He expected the increase to drop off after a few months, but now, seven months into the year, it’s stronger than ever.

He believes he removed the resistance which was the perceived barrier to care and now he can barely keep up with the patient load. “I didn’t have to change the way I care for my patients or my office procedures to make it work”, he reports.  And his costs for follow up corrections and other fees remained the same as they had been.  It was simply a matter of addressing the resistance.

So Dr. Brooks is doing what he loves and is treating more and more people. “I enjoy touching people behind the ear and changing their lives.”