Before the COVID-19 pandemic took a hold of the world, there was a collective of 30 health practitioners with diverse professional backgrounds starting to offer alternative health services in the Bisbee community as well as southeast Arizona. The group opened the Bisbee Holistic Wellness Center at 24 Howell Avenue, which was the original Copper Queen Hospital (built in 1880) and in desperate need of a makeover both inside and out. “When we took it over, it was in need of a lot of attention,” said Gale Frances, president of the board of directors and currently a non-practicing practitioner. “We all worked hard to create the space as it is now.” Through the help of grants written and submitted by the treasurer, Judee Edmonds, they were able to get enough money for a new roof and to clean/clear the overgrown courtyard. As a spinoff of Judy Perry’s Bisbee Alternative Therapies Clinic, the Bisbee Holistic Wellness Center was launched to offer more services to more people with more time given for care. The local resident and artist’s clinic has been free Series and donation-based for about 20 years, giving attendees a taste of various alternative/holistic services in 20-minute sessions. So, the idea behind opening a separate wellness center was to offer full, hour-long (or more) sessions to reap more benefits from more care.
Frances, who moved to Bisbee from Santa Cruz, California in 2018, was part of the original group that started the wellness center to empower the people of the community to make educated decisions about their health. The group hosted an open house right before the pandemic struck, which was well received by the community, and although they limped along during the pandemic (and with strict protocols in place), the organization kept the doors open. What started as 30 practitioners had dwindled down to seven, then even less, before the center experienced a rebirth and a rejuvenation. The center currently has 10 licensed and certified practitioners and has filled up the available rooms. There are eight members on the board of directors, and like Frances, not all are currently practitioners at the center. Cindy Anderson, a naturopathic doctor….read full story (online subscribers only)
