On Thursday, May 23, Align Clinic, LLC, a local small business serving the community by supplying prosthetic and orthotic patient care, was honored by Deputy Mayor Robert Ross and the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce with an official ribbon cutting ceremony. As a founding employee of Align Clinic, I can say that this was a truly exciting and memorable event in our company’s ongoing history. As Sylvia Lopez of the Chamber put it, “your business is not officially open in San Mateo until it has had the ribbon cut.”
Align Clinic, LLC is an independent provider of orthotic and prosthetic care recently started by 3 co-workers from a larger company that has now become the competition. We are essentially a "mom and pop" shop that is looking to take on a more active role in the San Mateo community. Though we are an underdog when compared to larger national chains, we decided that we did not want to live the corporate life anymore and wanted to have the freedom to use our years of experience to give excellent patient care without always looking at the bottom line.
One notable patient and now employee is our technician, Mohamed Lahna, who has been featured in articles in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Mateo Daily Journal, and others. He was born with a condition in which his femur did not properly grow, which results in his wearing an Above Knee prosthetic device. With what some would see as a limitation, Mohamed just recently returned from the deserts of Morocco where he competed in a 5-day marathon through the rigorous terrain as the only physically challenged participant. Paul Burnette, chief prosthetist of Align Clinic, helped modify his prosthesis so that he would be able to run across sand without sinking and climb over the rocks and stony ground. Mohamed has also competed in numerous triathlons and other races. He is currently training to compete in the 2016 Paralympics.
Our clinic also features one of the premiere orthotic specialists in the field of scoliosis treatment in the country, Grant Wood. Many patients from all over the U.S., and in some cases other countries, have come to see Grant Wood for his expertise in correcting scoliosis through bracing. Grant has provided countless young men and women an alternative to more invasive treatments, allowing the body to naturally correct itself through the use of his unique and effective bracing techniques. He has authored or been featured in several journal articles on the subject. The children he is able to help to live normal lives are a great story in and of themselves.
This occasion marked a great opportunity to highlight a small business making a big impact on the healthcare field, always putting the patient first and making it our lives' work to restore people to a state in which they can walk confidently, leading the lives they were used to before suffering a stroke, a fracture, an amputation, or any other physically limiting condition.
Attendees were treated to a full tour of our facilities. They saw our fabrication lab in which we manufacture many of the devices we supply to the patients. We explained the full process of how a patient is first evaluated and measured all the way to how an orthotic or prosthetic device is made and fitted to a patient. Many people were impressed with our state-of-the-art laser scanner, which we use to capture three dimensional models of our patients. These models can then be modified using a computer program to introduce the corrections we want the brace to provide. This technology is used to create many devices from cranial remolding helmets for infants born with deformities in head shape, to custom knee braces for patients recovering from ACL tears, to custom body jackets for patients with vertebral fractures. It was a great pleasure to better inform some of the public of how our industry functions.
We extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the Chamber members, friends, family, and other associates that were in attendance to welcome us to San Mateo and to honor the work that we do. We look forward to being a positive influence in San Mateo going forward and we urge you to seek us out if you ever have any need of orthotic bracing or prosthetic services.
