“Our favorite part of our jobs is helping people,” says Drs. Derek and Christy Fischer.
The Fischer’s are licensed chiropractors who share a passion for making others feel healthier and happier. “Our vision has always been to educate our patients and guide them to a healthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Christy. The couple is the first husband/wife chiropractic team to own and operate a family chiropractic center in Williston, North Dakota. But, they haven’t always practiced in Williston.
The couple has lived and worked in locations all over the U.S., but with a vision and a goal, they found their way back to their roots. The Fischer’s both graduated in 2007 from Northwestern Health Sciences University, College of Chiropractic in Bloomington, MN with their Doctrine in Chiropractic. After their internships, they moved to Phoenix, AZ in January 2008 and starting practicing.
In 2010, the Fischer’s moved and opened Fischer Family Chiropractic P.A. in Minnetonka, MN. In just 2 years of operation, the Family Chiropractic Center grew to over 200 patient visits per week. In 2013, with the birth of their child, the couple decided to move to Williston, ND to be closer to their family and to take advantage of the strong North Dakota economy.
“We got an opportunity presented to us to move back to Williston. Dr. Christy is originally from here, so it was something that had always been on our minds,” says Dr. Derek.
So, in 2013, the Fischer’s sold their practice in Minnetonka and headed north. The doctors purchased an existing chiropractic office in Williston on February 14, 2014. The couple used a SBA 504 loan through Dakota Certified Development Corporatin (now Dakota Business Lending) in partnership with First National Bank and Trust of Williston to acquire the real estate, renovate the building for their needs, and purchase additional updated equipment. Funds helped them to purchase: new adjustment tables, an x-ray machine, and active rehabilitation equipment. The Fischer’s are satisfied with the entire lending process with Dakota CDC (now Dakota Business Lending) and their lending partner.
“Dakota CDC (now Dakota Business Lending) has been great. Everyone has been very genuine and helpful throughout the entire process and has made it very easy!”
The quick business development was not planned in the least, says the couple, but everything just seemed to fall into place at the right time, making their relocation very smooth. “It has been such a blessing for us!”
Drs. Derek and Christy have a unique treatment style. Instead of basing their patient care solely on pain, like most chiropractic centers, Fischer’s take x-rays on almost all of their patients and spend time looking at the x-rays with each individual. This allows them to show the patient what they see is causing their pain and walk them through a treatment plan to correct it. Most chiropractors treat patients on a pain-based system, meaning they adjust them when they have pain and tell them to return when the pain comes back. The Fischer’s believe their system helps to correct the underlying cause of pain, while the pain-based approach does just enough to quiet the symptoms. Fischer’s not only take x-rays at the initial appointment, but continually check on the progress of the problem by taking more x-rays throughout the patient’s treatment. This allows them to make changes to their therapy and alter the patient’s frequency of care.
“I think people enjoy our approach to chiropractic care.” says the Fischer’s. “We see such amazing things happen every day in our office.”
The couple is very passionate about both chiropractic care, but wellness altogether. In fact, their goal from the start was to have a family wellness style practice in Williston. They have accomplished their goal of promoting wellness by teaching free, bi-weekly health care classes in their office to educate their patients about natural health and wellness topics. They also hold “lunch and learn” workshops at local area businesses. The doctors travel to businesses during a lunch or break time to deliver a workshop teaching employees about nutrition, exercise, stress and how chiropractic therapy can benefit their health. Both the in-house and remote education services are offered to participants free of charge.
“We get to help people in a more natural approach, which I think is what a lot of people are looking for these days,” says Dr. Christy.
At these workshops, the Fischer’s offer the attendees a check-up in their office at a discount rate. They also have perks for families of new patients. They offer a free family check-up after the first 14 days that a new patient begins care.
The couple is happy with their decision to relocate their business to Williston and the community seems to be happy too. “We have received amazing feedback from the community,” says the Fischer’s. “I think they enjoy having a Williston native move back to town.”
The husband/wife chiropractic team doesn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon either. “I think people appreciate that they know we are here to stay….oil or no oil.” The community appreciates having the couple as a chiropractic team. “I think people can truly tell our office has a family feel about it.” Extra time put in communicating with patients to help them understand their health and their treatment plan has made the Fischer’s practice very comfortable for customers. Their unique care and genuine support for patients has made the business very successful. They doctors say,
“We have been very blessed with a successful practice and amazing patients… our dream would be to have our office doors full of families living life at their fullest potential.”
To learn more about the Fischer’s and their chiropractic care, visit their website.
This article was written by Dakota Business Lending with permission from Fischer Family Chiropractic and is not to be edited or redistributed without permission.