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IQALUIT
After acupuncturist Elise Bohemier closed her 11-year Iqaluit business and moved to Cantley, Que., in 2010, it has taken three years for another entrepreneur to try to fill Iqalummiut demand for acupuncture services.

Pauline Vaughan demonstrates her acupuncture technique in her True North Acupuncture Studio in Iqaluit on July 24. Vaughan, who moved North from Ontario, set up her business in early July after conducting market research on Facebook. - Myles Dolphin/NNSL photo

Pauline Vaughan moved to the capital last month after closing her acupuncture business in Kingston, Ont. She opened True North Acupuncture Studio in a 120-square-foot commercial space formerly rented by chiropractor Felix Louis, next to Nunavut Hair Studio and Tanning Centre in building 1419, Sikituuq Court.

According to Bohemier, Vaughan can expect to see a large demand for acupuncture services in the capital, adding she had 284 clients on her waiting list when she moved south.

"I have people from Iqaluit that are still coming to see me," Bohemier said. "In the North, there's lots of need. Usually, I go back (to Iqaluit) every year, but I couldn't make it this summer."

Vaughan is having no difficulty filling her four reclining treatment chairs, which are situated in each corner of the small room in a star formation. She said her flight landed on July 2 and by 3 p.m. that day she was working with her first client.

"I had brought my treatment chairs and my needles and all I had to do was open the boxes and I was in business," Vaughan said. "It's been busy and each week has been busier."

She said she had 25 clients booked in her first week and last week she had about triple that number.

Vaughan was drawn to the North after hearing stories told by her daughter, Aliza Weller, who moved to California last month after three years working in Cambridge Bay for the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Vaughan conducted market research this past spring by calling massage therapists in town and contacting Bohemier in Quebec. She also posted a message to the Iqaluit Public Service Announcements Facebook page asking for feedback, which she said quickly garnered many positive responses.

"So, it seemed like a safe bet to make a move," she said.

She opens her studio in the mornings and afternoons on weekdays, but she said she may expand her business hours if clients request alternate times.

"If the demand were to go crazy, I would open for a few hours on the weekend or during the evenings on weekdays," she said. "It's important for healthcare providers to respond to the needs of the community and to be a community resource."

Vaughan offers what she refers to as "community acupuncture."

"Community acupuncture is based on a belief that acupuncture doesn't have to be expensive to be effective. In community acupuncture, the fees are within the range of most people, where down south you might pay anywhere from $65 to $150. It allows people to come and be treated with their friends and family members, if that's what they wish to be doing," she said, adding that a small majority of her clients are Inuit. "The goal of treatment is to get out of treatment. I run the risk of putting myself out of business because people do get better."

Vaughan said she also advises clients about Chinese herbology products and operates a private psychotherapy service that already serves several clients in Iqaluit.

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