Here's the story and how you can lend a hand.

As many of you may have heard, last week the Governor gave the okay for acupuncture clinics to resume business in the Granite State starting on June 1st. On its face this is great news. However a significant, bewildering detail lay in the State re-opening guidelines.

It seems a last minute provision was included - essentially a restriction -  that limits acupuncture practitioners to treating no more than one patient at a time. As you may imagine, this is problematic for MAS on a number of levels.

Most notably this restriction would not allow MAS to meet its expenses. Nor would we be able to accommodate all of the folks who we know are looking forward to coming back for regular treatments. It also introduces the absurd scenario where only two people would be allowed inside of facilities that are 2000-3000 square feet in size!

MAS is built to provide lots of acupuncture for not a lot of money charged for each treatment. In fact, it's part of this organization's by-laws. So the notion of increasing fees to meet financial needs for a 1:1 practitioner/patient ratio is out of the question. So we remain closed until this provision is either changed or removed. And we're working really hard to make this happen sooner than later.

Incidentally, we know of no other state in the US who has included a similar provision in re-opening guidelines for acupuncture practices, nor are we aware of any other heath professionals in NH who have been restricted in this way.

Let it be known that we are immensely grateful for the time and effort that Governor Sununu, the Re-opening Task Force and the Health and Human Services Commissioner are putting in under extraordinary circumstances. Based on our years of experience, we feel that the decision to limit acupuncture practitioners to treating one patient at a time is based on a lack of information as to how greater-access, affordable acupuncture clinics and practices have (and can continue to) safely functioned for over a decade in New Hampshire and beyond. Perhaps if so, that restriction would not have been added.

At this point, are you wondering how you may be able to help?

That's great - thank you! Here are two ways:

1) If any of you dear readers happen to have a contact at NH Dept. of Health & Human Services or within the Governor's office, please consider putting me in touch. We'd love an opportunity to teach how the 1:1 provision has the unintended consequence of keeping thousands of people from relief of chronic pain, stress, anxiety, insomnia, etc. in acupuncture clinics across the state.

2) Have your say by signing this petition that we will make certain to send along to NH Heath & Human Services, the Re-Opening Task Force and the Governor's Office by June 5th .

Thanks for sticking with us and we look forward to an update on the re-opening of MAS clinics soon.