Holistic clinic open in Redwater

By Grant Cree

A new holistic clinic opened in Redwater last August at 5303 48 Avenue. University TCM Clinic provides clients with acupuncture, massage, osteopathy and herbs. Their head office is in Edmonton near the University of Alberta campus.

“We wanted to see more and more people get beneficial results from these acupuncture treatments,” said Dr. Linda Lin when asked why she opened a clinic in Redwater. “We have a team with so many different therapists.”

Dr. Lin noted that although the human body has a self-healing function, sometimes people can’t walk alone. In those cases, she suggests acupuncture to stimulate the healing function.

Redwater resident Sandra Walsh had never been to an acupuncturist before last April. “But I had an infection in my leg, and it looked really bad,” said Walsh. “I went in feeling very itchy, and I said, is there anything you can do for this? So now it’s amazing. My leg went from very dark in colour, just like a huge bruise, and it’s almost all gone. I can feel circulation going through there now.”

The University TCM Clinic website claims to be “Your local pain specialist team.” The clinic has direct billing arrangements for session payments with companies like TELUS Health, Blue Cross and WCB.

“There are so many different insurance companies, and they cover acupuncture treatments if they [patients] have their health insurance,” said Dr. Lin. “They just have to check their insurance plan and see if they have coverage.”

She added that Alberta Health Services does not provide coverage for acupuncture treatments. “Not yet, but we’re working on it,” said Dr. Lin. For more information on University TCM Clinic, visit http://www.universitytcmclinic.com/.