by Dennis Dalman
“WELL & Company,” a new personalized medical clinic, recently hosted its grand opening after a ribbon-cutting in late May near downtown St. Joseph in an old-but refurbished building at 106 Second Ave. NW.
The clinic shares one part of the refurbished building with another new business, “Blush Salon.” (For more on that business, see an upcoming story in this newspaper.)
The clinic is operated by Saundra Lauer, a nurse practitioner, who is an Alexandria resident who owns/operates two other WELL & Company clinics, one in Alexandria, the other in Sartell. There are 4,200 patients who now go to one or the other of those two clinics. At the Sartell clinic, 60 percent of its patients live in or near St. Joseph – a good reason to open a clinic in that city, Lauer said.
And Lauer is certainly no stranger to St. Joseph. Her husband Samuel’s parents and grandparents grew up there, and she and Samuel have kept in touch with the city and its people for years.
“We are a community-based clinic,” said Lauer in an interview with the Newsleaders. “And we have a great community in the St. Joseph area.”
Lauer earned a doctorate degree in nursing practices from North Dakota State University, Fargo.
WELL & Company locales are primary- and urgent-care clinics at which staff spend plenty of time communicating with patients and where patients are the number-one priority, Lauer said. It also serves as a clinic for 20+ companies as their employee health benefits solution.
The clinics offer procedures such as onsite EKGs, lab services and minimally invasive procedures. WELL & Company also has a subspecialty in medical aesthetic services such as facials, injectables and expertise in acne care.
The clinics operate on a cash-based model, although patients’ insurance plans can be billed for lab work, imaging, medication and referrals to specialists.
The St. Joseph clinic will be open normal clinic hours with someone on call on evenings, weekends and holidays for urgent-care needs for members. The membership option is a monthly fee and offers what Lauer compared to the on-call doctors of years ago who made their rounds carrying a medical bag.
The clinic will welcome “walk-in” customers.
Ever since her college years, Lauer had hoped and dreamed of someday opening a clinic that focused on community, personalized and affordable care. Her dream will be realized a third time, this time in St. Joseph.
After graduating from college, Lauer worked as a nurse practitioner for four years at a CentraCare clinic.
Lauer’s husband, Samuel, is a commercial-construction project manager. They have two young boys.
Staff and well-wishers of WELL & Company cheer during a ribbon-cutting for the new business, which opened in late May in St. Joseph.
