Dr. David Bourree

His Work: Chiropractor

“Because of the open concept there was less wasted time.” In the new office space “it takes approximately twice as long to see the same flow of people.”

Dr. Bourree moved into his current location two years ago and he tells me how the two different spaces impact his practice. He says “I would definitely go back to more of an open concept because it was a much better way to educate people and to cover more territory.” He says the new space is “a little bit more regimented and confined in the current space. The old space was more of an open concept and so from a flow point of view and the amount of steps taken in a day, the current space requires more steps. But it may also offer a little bit more privacy, however it does tend to require more time to accomplish the same things.” Dr. Bourree also tells me he likes a flow where the timing is correct, “where the foot traffic meets the capacity without going in either direction.” He tells me that the new office space has more privacy so patients tend to open up more. He says that he does want to chat and visit with patients so he can get to know them but “the open concept allows you to be busy while you’re having a conversation versus waiting.”  “There is a thought in our profession that the more closed-room you get the more you get into visiting and the less productive you are and then you have to ask yourself where is the balance in the value.”

He also makes it clear to me that his goal isn’t to just treat as many people as possible and that there is a balance involved with his practice of educating his patients. Dr. Bourree says “my goal is to educate people about the value of wellness care and prevention, so that they choose that over symptomatic care, while symptomatic care has its place it shouldn’t be the default setting.”

The new space isn’t all bad in the slightest and Dr. Bourree tells me “I enjoy this workspace particularly because of the greenbelt we have right behind it, that garden that’s situated at the end of all the treatment rooms and the full windows— floor to ceiling, that really makes a big impact on how I feel. I think it lends to the healing environment too, gives it that feel of being in touch with nature.” He also tells me how the natural light available is very important. “We can leave the fluorescent lights off which is huge from a healthcare point of view.” He explains to me how the frequency of the lights vibrates at 60 hurts, which means that the light blinks 60 times per second. Dr. Bourree says “to the visual eye you can’t really see it but it’s really hard on the brain and the body.”

Not only is the natural light better for you, but he tells me how it really changes the experience that patients have. Dr. Bourree tells me that he has noticed that in Seattle when the first few sunny days start taking place that people disappear and cancel their appointments in order to be outside. He says that the windows allow them to have a little less of that because patients can lay on the adjustment tables and feel the natural sunlight coming through the windows. He also tells me that “there’s a soothing part to that” as well.

When I ask him if he could put his experience with his work into a few words he says “Teaching people to go to their destiny with optimum health. Because if you don’t have your health, as most people have found out, or you have less than you should in your health quotient it’s going to take away from your life and you may not ever achieve what you’re meant to achieve because of it. So that’s my personal path” “chiropractic is my tool, my vehicle, to access the other aspects of their life that they can do better in. Chiropractic is what I’m absolutely best at.”

At the conclusion of our interview I ask Dr. Bourree if there is anything else he would like to share and he tells me “any space can be improved on, I think the main thing is our color, as much natural light as you can, make the changes to make the environment wholesome to yourself and whether its ergonomic changes or color changes or lighting changes or whatever, because we spend so much time in our workspace particularly that it’s got to feel good or you just won’t be a happy camper.”