HEALTHLINES
Paths to practice Two doctors take roundabout routes to building pain clinic together in Chico
story and photo by
Evan Tuchinsky
evantuc hin sk y @ n ew sr ev i ew. com
Oneighbor Skyway, with a surgery center as one and a physical therapy center as
n a parcel between Raley Boulevard and
another, construction recently began on a 5,000-square-foot building to house the growing Chico practice of two interventional pain specialists. Dr. Brett Butz, who participated in a site-dedication ceremony March 13, opened the Interventional Pain Physicians office in 2012. His partner is Dr. Daniel Bonis, who joined Butz at the Chico practice in 2016. A fateful encounter laid the groundwork for the partnership. Only knowing of the other, the two met at a restaurant where a common acquaintance introduced them. They sat together, talked and clicked. That serendipitous meeting didn’t happen anywhere near Chico, though—it was at an Italian restaurant in Alamogordo, N.M. During the doctors’ “friendly chatter,” Butz recalled, “the subject of Chico came up,” and they were both surprised by their respective connections to the city. (Bonis’ brother is Dr. William Bonis, a hematologist with Enloe Cancer Services.) They arranged to speak again and soon were in business together. The partnership solidified Butz’s plans to break ground on a new, comprehensive facility in Chico. “It was kind of a little bit of a fluke … a lot of things in life happen that way,” Bonis said by phone from Southern California, where his family lives and he also treats patients. Butz and Bonis have been rotating between their Alamogordo and Chico offices—each staying for a few weeks in the opposite city from where his partner is working. Should a third physician join
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them as expected in early 2018, that doctor would cover the New Mexico office to the extent that Bonis could focus on Chico and Butz could spend more time here as well. The new facility should be done in November and open around January. Interventional Pain Physicians’
current local office, on West East Avenue, no longer can accommodate the practice’s needs, Butz explained at the construction site. The most conspicuous need is space to perform procedures such as targeted pain injections (see “Other than opioids,” Healthlines, April 28, 2016). Specialists often require imaging—X-rays or MRI scans—to direct them to the specific point for therapy; such large equipment can cramp quarters. The new building has been designed with four suites: two offices, two procedure rooms. The procedure rooms will have the size and structure for surgeries; in pain management, those operations include implanting pain pumps and neurostimulators (i.e., pacemakers for pain). Butz said Interventional Pain Physicians will take just one of the office suites ini-
aPPointment
tially, potentially affording another doctor or practice the opportunity to move in, but will have sufficient demand for both procedure rooms. “It’s built like a surgery center,” Butz said, “but it’s in the same building, part of the office…. It’s dedicated to pain.”
BENEFIT OF DRINKING Do you fancy beer and/or wine? Then sample some good stuff at The Arc of Butte County’s annual Wine & Beer Tasting Benefit on Sunday (April 2) from 3-6 p.m. at the Arc Pavilion (2040 Park Ave.). Tickets are $30; proceeds will benefit the Arc’s efforts to help people with developmental disabilities. Go to arcbutte.org/events to buy tickets or call 891-5865 for more information.
Dr. Brett Butz says the facility “dedicated to pain” should open around January.
A key benefit, Butz explained, is saving time by not having to compete with other specialties to book appointments. “Generally, we use two rooms all day long,” he said. “The bigger surgery centers have to accommodate orthopedic surgeons; some of their procedures last hours, so it takes up my time, because my [nonsurgical] procedures last about six minutes.” Bonis calls the facility a “one-stop shop”—a model akin to the private practice in Alamogordo where he’s been working. “I think the patients really like it,” he said. “Instead of having to go to a big hospital and check in, they can come to a smaller place that they don’t feel is quite so intimidating.” HEALTHLINES c o n t i n u e d
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