UNC Family Medicine’s newly renovated Acupuncture Clinic reopens

July 25, 2008

UNC Family Medicine’s newly renovated Acupuncture Clinic reopens

What sort of ambience would you want to find in an acupuncture clinic?

For starters, you’d probably want the walls to be painted a soothing hue. A pleasant gurgling water fountain in the waiting room. Art work that pays homage to the Chinese origins of this ancient healing modality. And décor that’s more crunchy granola and Birkenstocks than button-down shirt and tie.

That’s exactly what you’ll find now at the Acupuncture Clinic at UNC Health Care’s Family Medicine Center, which reopened on Friday, July 25, fresh from a renovation designed and led by three students in the UNC School of Public Health.

“We redesigned the acupuncture clinic to create a more unique experience for the patients,” said Kosha Shah, who worked on the project with fellow students LyTonya Fowler and Jamie DeGraw. Shah and Fowler are students in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program, with a concentration in Health Administration. DeGraw is pursuing a master’s degree in Health Administration.

The opportunity to refurbish the clinic came when its primary acupuncturist, Wunian Chen, returned to his native China for a visit.

“At that point,” DeGraw said, “Our faculty preceptors in Family Medicine came to us and said, ‘See what you can do with this.’ ”

With those marching orders, and a $5,000 budget, the students set off to research their options and developed a plan to both give the clinic a new look and launch its first coordinated marketing effort.

“We then had to make our case and persuade our preceptors that our plan was the right way to go, based on our research,” Fowler said.

Ronald Lingley, associate chair for administration in the Department of Family Medicine, has served as preceptor for the students.

“Acupuncture at Family Medicine has a successful history in the care of patients and popularity in the community,” Lingley said. “Of particular interest is the the concept of acupuncture within a primary care site. The high quality of care has remained; however, the acupuncture area has begun to show some wear and tear. Our administrative interns have brought an energy and fresh perspective that is perfect for a project designed to reinvigorate our Acupuncture efforts and better serve our community.”

Now the fruits of their labors are easy, and pleasing, to see. What was once a bright orange corridor has been repainted to a much more soothing shade of cream. File cabinets and storage units were removed from the corridor – they disrupted the feng shui of the space. The exam rooms themselves now sport a powdery shade that is close to, but not quite, Carolina blue.

The Acupuncture Clinic gladly welcomes new patients for services provided by Chen and Gary Asher, M.D. To make an appointment, call 919-966-0210. Walk-in patients are also accepted during the clinic’s business hours, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

More information is available at the clinic’s Web site, at
http://www.med.unc.edu/fammed/for-patients/fammed-1/acupuncture .

Media contact: Tom Hughes, 919-966-6047, tahughes@unch.unc.edu


ABOUT UNC HEALTH CARE
The UNC Health Care System is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. It exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and to provide state-of-the-art patient care. UNC Health Care is comprised of UNC Hospitals, which is ranked among the top 50 in the nation in six specialties by U.S. News & World Report and ranked one of the country’s 41 best on the Leapfrog 2007 Top Hospitals list; the UNC School of Medicine, a nationally eminent research institution; community practices; home health and hospice services in seven central North Carolina counties; Rex Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County; and Chatham Hospital in Siler City.