Orthotist may have found replacement
Jen Halliday is moving off-island with her family in June
A serious offer to take over Jen Halliday’s orthotics business in Sydney has her smiling these days.
A certified orthotist, Halliday is moving off the island with her family in June and has been seeking someone with the qualifications to take over her 5,000plus patient clinic at Advanced Mobility Orthopaedics Ltd. since last year.
Now, about a month after she spoke with media to get the word out about her plans to hand over her practice at no cost, she has a potential suitor lined up.
It’s an orthotist from outside Atlantic Canada looking at the prospect of an “adventure” in moving to Cape Breton, Halliday said.
She won’t divulge who it is, other than to say the woman is a Canadian citizen. The woman contacted Halliday by email after viewing a shared Facebook post from a mutual friend.
“She’s a Canadian certify, so she’s got the same credentials as myself and she would be perfectly capable to take on 100 per cent of what it is we do here,” said Halliday.
It’s expected the orthotist will join Halliday at her office on Glenwood Street beginning this Monday and will leave six days later.
The offer to take over the practice includes a leased facility with two full-time staff members and a part-time receptionist. All equipment and materials required to form leg braces and leg and foot supports are included along with a large patient load.
One of the deciding factors for the woman, who will bring along her husband, was finding a family doctor.
Recent news on the departure of a number of physicians including specialists from Cape Breton made the need for her to find a general practitioner all the more important, Halliday said.
Halliday said she was able to secure a doctor for the couple.
“It was professional courtesy. I deal with doctors all the time and one (doctor) that we do a lot of work for, we happened to have a conversation, and she was talking about how devastating it would be for the clinic to close.
“(The doctor) said she would take them on (as patients). It was a relief that I could tell (the couple) that you don’t have to worry, that you will get a family doctor.”
There are a number of procedures the new orthotist will have to keep in mind with the move.
“She needs to know the business side of it,” said Halliday.
“Every province is different in how billing is done and that sort
of thing so she’ll have to get a feel for how we do it in this province.”
On the clinical side, the two orthotists will work side-by-side for the week in the workshop and will see patients together.
In their off hours, Halliday expects to introduce the couple to a local restaurant each day of the week, and depending on weather, the visit may conclude
with a tour of part of the island.
Halliday’s family, including two sons, ages 9 and 10, is leaving their home in Boularderie for the suburbs of Boston as Halliday’s husband works as a systems analyst and has been relocated by his company.