By Donna Furey | LB Indy
Following a trend in healthcare, longtime local chiropractor Dr. Gary Arthur has partnered with Dr. Marcela Dominquez to establish a new medical corporation, Health In Balance Integrative Medicine, which will work alongside the Arthur Chiropractic Corporation.
Expanding into a nearby office recently vacated, the offices on Park Avenue now accommodate Dominguez and nurse practitioner, Lynne Hunt. The two entities can now work together seamlessly to offer patients a holistic approach that they call functional medicine. Such an approach addresses the underlying causes of disease, assessing the whole person rather than just isolated symptoms, they say.
The public is invited to tour the expanded clinic at 330 Park Ave. from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Music, food, entertainment and a raffle are planned. The winning ticket receives a limited edition bronze statue of Arthur’s friend, Skipper Carrillo. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Dominguez Roth Cancer Fund and Laguna Beach Schoolpower.
Arthur, who has been treating patients for 28 years, works alongside his wife, Lisa Arthur, and Cynthia Costa, both doctors of chiropractic, two massage therapists and four physical medical assistants, who work with patients on prescribed exercises to relieve pain and build muscle mass. Arthur and Dominguez plan to bring on a licensed physical therapist and perhaps another nurse practitioner, they say.
Dominguez, who lives in Laguna Beach, will work part time at the new integrative clinic while maintaining her private practice, Complete Care Family Medicine, in Mission Viejo. She is a graduate of UCLA and UC San Diego and served as a chief obstetrics resident at Long Beach Memorial Hospital.
While Health In Balance doesn’t accept HMO plans and is in “just a few healthcare networks,” its staff will query insurers on behalf of patients to determine what services are covered, says Arthur. “Under the Affordable Care Act, payments to chiropractors are less, so accessing the medical side” helps patients obtain services, said Dominguez.
Dominguez, also trained in integrative cancer therapy, co-founded the Dominguez-Roth Foundation with her former patient Julie Roth. Roth was a champion of integrative medicine, who left a portion of her estate to help others learn more about integrative therapeutic approaches to treating their cancer.
