FEATURE a lot of things, but we do relish having a lot of experiences – particularly those experiences associated with travelling abroad. At the time we asked ourselves these questions, we had just reno-vated the basement of the clinic. My wife Jan agreed to move her naturo-pathic practice downstairs, which relocated space within the clinic. In turn, we had enough space to create a 750 square foot apartment on the second floor. (All of the space we needed since my daughter had moved out years before.) Currently, my wife and I live in that apartment in the clinic, which has a shared entrance. Laundry is downstairs, and while we don’t have enough space to entertain, we do manage to have my daughter and her husband stay with us for a weekend every now and then. We converted the second upstairs bedroom into a kitchen/living room combination. It’s not huge, but it’s sufficient. There is a three-piece bath on the second floor and a nice large bedroom across the hall. We installed a door on the landing to create separation from the clinic. One door and 15 steps is my com-mute. I share the ground floor and the open concept treatment room (which handles up to nine people) with the physiotherapist. Both the physio and I have private offices – mine is equipped with an X-ray. People calling day and night is not a problem. First of all, we don’t have a doorbell and secondly, most people call before they come in anyway. When the office is closed, it’s closed. Learning to use all available space really helped to reduce costs. By making use of the basement for naturopathic medicine, and massage therapy and holistic nutrition, the second floor apartment was made and we were able to sell our condominium. We live rent-free and the costs associated with home ownership are paid as a practice ex-pense. We have also found a way for our health team to share in the costs of running the practice, further reducing the expenses. Our building is classified as a two-bedroom house, but has 3,000 square feet of useable space, which has been updated over the years to be more professional and personable. www.canadianchiropractor.ca PRACTICE EVOLUTION Living where you work Why working at home could be for you W BY DIRK KEENAN orking from a home office is a welcome break from stress-ful daily commut-ing and bad weather issues, and can help busy chiropractors achieve a better work-life balance. Home offices allow you to see patients on an emergency basis, often interrupt-ing your day in less than 15 minutes. You can also save a great deal of money by enjoying the tax advantages of having shared space with your office. My wife and I did not start out with a home practice. We first enjoyed living in a spacious condominium three kilo-metres away from our practices in Ottawa’s Little Italy. One day we asked ourselves: “In the event we can’t practice, what could we do to stay afloat financially?” And, “could we save the roughly $30,000 a year in living expenses associated with our condominium?” As a couple we don’t value owning DIRK KEENAN is a second-generation chiropractor practicing in Ottawa’s oldest clinic for the past 34 years. Dr. Keenan pursues an active interest in multi-disciplinary clinics, interprofessional education, and chiropractic practices abroad. He is currently in the midst of establishing an international locum service. Interested parties in international locums, multi-disciplinary practices, or interprofessional education can contact him at [email protected]. 22 Canadian Chiropractor December 2018
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