Good Clinic to open three more locations in the Twin Cities

The Twin Cities Business Magazine recently talked to The Good Clinic CEO Michael Howe about our clinics in St. Louis Park, Eden Prairie, and St. Paul. Below is the full article with a link to the Twin Cities Business Magazine.

Minnetonka-based Mitesco Inc. is pushing ahead with the expansion of its Good Clinic concept.

The Good Clinic’s first location opened Feb. 1 in Northeast Minneapolis. It has now announced that its second location is set to open in the Excelsior & Grand mixed-use complex in St. Louis Park in late August or early September. A third location is planned for Eden Prairie and a fourth is slated for St. Paul, said Michael Howe, CEO and co-founder of the Good Clinic.

By the end of the year the goal is to have 8 locations, primarily in the Twin Cities but also in its next expansion market, Denver.

The Good Clinic model is focused on small, primary care clinics with an emphasis on wellness. There are no doctors at the Good Clinic; care is provided by nurse practitioners. The clinics are slated to be no larger than 3,500 square feet.

Howe said that part of the motivation behind the concept is a growing shortage of primary care doctors in the U.S. A study last year from the Association of American Medical Colleges found that there could be a shortage of 21,400 to 55,200 primary care physicians by 2033.

“Most physicians are going into the specialties,” said Howe. “You’re seeing more and more recognition that primary care has to be reevaluated.”

Howe said that studies have shown that patients who invest in primary care are healthier in the long-term and will spend less money in their lives on health care.

“We’re approaching it differently,” said Howe. “We’re creating a relationship with the each of the patients. We’re approaching primary care more as a coaching effort.”

Howe added that about half of the appointments at the clinics could be virtual, telehealth visits.

“We’re a tech-forward company,” said Howe.

Howe served as CEO of MinuteClinic, which started in the Twin Cities and was ultimately sold to CVS in 2006. Other company co-founders also bring experience from MinuteClinic and other health care companies.

Mitesco has been in various businesses. Its stock is traded over the counter. Howe and his fellow co-founders pitched the Good Clinic concept to Mitesco, which acquired it. Good Clinic is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitesco.

Howe said that Good Clinic is essentially a “management services company” which provides facilities, financing, branding, marketing, software, and equipment to the clinics. Howe noted that a majority of states bar corporations from practicing medicine.

The company’s initial plan is to lease clinic spaces in large housing towers or complexes. The Northeast Minneapolis location is on the ground floor of the Nordhaus tower.

“We are putting them in retail locations within residential towers,” said Howe. “Health care really is a consumer services business…. What we’ve done is looked at how we could make it more accessible.”

Find the article here: https://tcbmag.com/good-clinic-to-open-three-more-locations-in-the-twin-cities/