Thank you!

BOOK NOW!!

Staff are booking appointments 7 days per week.

EXCITING NEWS!

  • Please join us in welcoming a new member to our team - Jessie Shigetomi, RMT! She is coming aboard towards the end of October! Also, we welcome Broxton Walker, RMT to our team! Check out their bios on our staff page.

  • NWMT also offers Acupuncture and Osteopathy! Book now!

  • We now offer appointments 7 days a week! See our practitioners availabilities and read more about them on our staff page.

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For COVID-19 risks, be advised that:

  • any massage therapy treatment involves some risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission;

  • your RMT is following a protocol to reduce or mitigate risk, but that risk cannot be reduced to zero;

  • as a patient, you consent to treatment despite some risk; and

  • we will be documenting this consent and having you sign off on this in person when you come in.

Please consider the benefits and risks of massage therapy to you prior to booking. If you are a person who is vulnerable to COVID-19 (an older adult/senior, immunocompromised, or have a chronic health condition), the risks of massage treatment may outweigh the benefits for you. Please refer to these links (1) (2) (3) for more information. We strongly advise that persons vulnerable COVID-19 consult with their physician to see if massage therapy is indicated for them.

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Summary of key changes that impact you directly

  • Before your appointment:

    • Booking email: Each automated booking confirmation email will include information about our new operating procedures. You will be contacted via phone and/or email to receive a mandatory COVID-19 screening survey 24 hours before your appointment. This survey is based on the provincial COVID-19 self-screening tool.

  • The day of your appointment:

    • You must sanitize or wash your hands upon entry to the building.

    • Please arrive unaccompanied unless you are a minor who requires a parent/guardian, or need physical assistance coming in.

    • Your RMT will discuss any COVID-19 concerns you may have, any risks they may pose to you, and any relevant personal limitations of practice from their end.

    • Your RMT will ask you the results of your self-assessment and also disclose their results (they are required to take the assessment daily).

    • Returning and new patients, please be prepared to go over a detailed consent and sign-off on your first time back since we have been shut down.

    • You will be asked:

      • If you or any of your close contacts are experiencing any (including mild) COVID-19 symptoms

      • If you have travelled outside BC within the past 14 days (as CMTBC guidelines, which RMTs must follow, are more strict in this regard than the BC CDC)

      • If you have had extensive contact with individuals outside your immediate family, pod, or unit (other than service workers at grocery stores, banks, etc.)

  • An appointment must be cancelled immediately if either you or your RMT present with even mild symptoms. We will not be charging patients who notify us as soon as they feel symptoms, but if a patient is aware of their symptoms over 24 hours before their appointment or if they do not show up for their appointment, they will still be charged.

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What we’re doing on our end to keep you safe…

BC’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued a hierarchy of controls based on research from the John Hopkins School of Public Health. This a framework is designed to reducing transmission hazards. In order of most effective to least effective, the relevant transmission-protection measures (as well as the ways in which NWMT has implemented them) are the following: 

1.      Physical distancing:

  • Ensuring that people are not coming in when they are ill or have potentially been exposed to others who are ill. NWMT will be screening patients at the time of booking and again on the day of the appointment to ensure that there are no current symptoms.

2.     Engineering controls:

  • Each room is being outfitted with an air purifier.

3.     Administrative controls:    

  • NWMT will be staggering all massages between the two rooms so as not to have people entering/leaving at the same time. We ask that you come shortly before your massage time for this reason.

  • RMTs will be conducting patient screening before and during appointment, as mentioned in section (1)-(1). If patient does not meet the pre-screening criteria, the appointment will be cancelled immediately. If patient did not meet the pre-screening criteria upon taking the test the day prior and did not attempt to cancel the appointment, they may be charged.

  • RMTs will be conducting daily self-screening.

  • RMTs will be washing their hands to elbows with soap and water for a minimum 20 seconds before and after each treatment.

  • RMTs will ensure that each patient washes their hands using the World Health Organization’s technique and timing for thorough hand-washing.

  • RMTs will be spraying a hospital-grade disinfectant approved by Health Canada for use against COVID-19 for 1-3 minutes (depending on the concentration of the CaviCide or BioTEXT used) on face cushions and room surfaces between treatments (e.g., desk, sideboard surface, payment terminal, door handles).

  • RMTs will be circulating air into and out of the rooms between each treatment.

4.      Personal protective equipment (PPE):

Resources

Are you a clinic owner who is struggling with help in developing/procuring return-to-work protocols and materials?

1033 is a disaster/emergency management and business continuity company that is pairing organizations in need with emergency and continuity planning professionals who have relevant industry experience. The service is free for businesses and non-profits impacted by COVID-19. (Full disclosure: one of the founders is this clinic owner’s sibling, however I will still leave this resource here as it is entirely free and could be of use to many clinics that are in financial crisis).

Preventing the spread of respiratory viruses

  • Hand hygiene is the best way to prevent the spread of infections: remember to wash your hands

  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth

  • Avoid close contact (2 metres) with people

  • Stay home when possible

  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or your sleeve