Mahaya Forest Hill Integrative Clinic
We at IHP are pleased to introduce the innovative Mahaya Forest Hill Integrative Health clinic. This integrative clinic is a multi-disciplinary wellness centre located in the beautiful Forest Hill neighbourhood in Toronto, near St. Clair Avenue West and Avenue Road. It opened its doors in 2010 as an expansion of the original downtown Mahaya clinic and was taken over by new management in June 2012. Since that time, it has been run successfully and independently by its new owner and Clinic Director, Dr. Chris Habib, ND.
After his graduation at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Chris proceeded to become the first and only person in Canada to complete an accredited two-year research residency. Chris has always had a passion for promoting integrative medicine and saw this clinic as an opportunity to further his goal on a larger scale. Since the transition in ownership, Chris has made it his mission to provide the community with unparalleled integrative health services. The clinic treats all of its patients with the utmost respect and strives to ensure that every single patient receives the absolute highest quality of care. All aspects of the patient interaction are taken into consideration so that patients are provided with the best possible overall health experience.
Mahaya Forest Hill is located on the ground floor of a house at the corner intersection of a residential street and St. Clair Avenue West, creating a cozy and professional atmosphere for patients. Free parking is available on-site and the clinic is easily accessible by TTC. There is also a dentist, an esthetician, a counsellor, and a psychotherapist working out of the same building. The clinic benefits from the traffic of these and neighbouring businesses, as well as the street traffic on St. Clair Avenue West. Mahaya Forest Hill is a proud member of the Toronto Midtown Business Association and connects with the business community by providing talks at local companies. They also connect with the community through a strong social media presence, including blogging, newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Chris’ wife, Nicole Habib, works behind-the-scenes as the Marketing Director of the clinic, bringing with her marketing experience from the publishing industry.
The strength of Mahaya Forest Hill lies in its unique team of diverse health care practitioners. The team currently includes six Naturopathic Doctors, three Registered Massage Therapists, two Chiropractors, one Osteopath, and one Acupuncturist. On any given day of the week, patients have access to a specialized team of practitioners who work together to provide optimal wholeperson treatments. All health teams include at least one Naturopathic Doctor who ensures long-term health and works with the patient to optimize diet, nutrition, lifestyle, and address any other health factors. Together, the practitioners also make certain that the body is working properly from a structural perspective and that any pain is treated effectively through a variety of therapies. Overall, the practitioners have a tremendous amount of education and also have additional training in some of the following areas: evidence-based medicine, women’s health, acupuncture, blood typing, Arvigo massage, homeopathy, orthotic assessments, doula training, manual lymph drainage, and combined decongestive therapy.
Patients are often introduced to the clinic through one initial contact point, whether it be with an individual practitioner or through the clinic’s website. All practitioners offer free 15-minute consultations to discuss their services with prospective patients. After booking an initial visit and working with one practitioner, patients have the option to expand their health team. Practitioners are responsible for making sure their patients obtain thorough care and this usually entails going beyond their own scope of practice. As a result, the clinic incorporates specialized inter-referral forms so that the entire health team has full access to all pertinent health information. From that point, patients are able to schedule back-to-back appointments with different practitioners, which provides them with an extremely supportive health experience. One specific goal of the clinic is to make this type of health care more accessible and so the clinic is open for extended hours Monday to Saturday.
Patients can also take advantage of specific programs that are offered by the clinic. The various programs provide support through different life stages and through natural life transitions. These programs include the Healthy Breast, Healthy Conception, Detoxification, Facial Rejuvenation, Healthy Weight Loss, Healthy Menopause, Healthy Pregnancy, Optimal Prevention, and Cancer Care.
The clinic includes a laboratory with state-of-the-art integrative diagnostics and a dispensing room. Both on-site and and off-site blood draws are available for patients. Mahaya Forest Hill utilizes Gamma Dynacare, Rocky Mountain Analytical, ImmunoLabs, and Metametrix among some of its lab service providers. The supplement dispensary consists of a wide variety of the highest quality nutraceuticals, botanicals, topical creams, and homeopathics from companies such as AOR, NFH, Seroyal, Thorne, EBI, Boiron, St Francis Herb Farm, Promedics, and Douglas Labs. In addition, the clinic also carries specially formulated tinctures by Etheric Herbals and a large collection of dried herbs and teas. Custom herbal formulas can also be created for patients to address their individual health needs.
IHP would like to thank Mahaya Forest Hill for the opportunity to highlight this highly successful clinic. Having many practitioners in one facility does not in itsellf define a multidisciplinary practice; it is the interaction between the allied practitioners, and their ability to effectively manage patient care in a manner that maximizes the unique skillset of the specific practitioners. Mahaya Forest Hill has achieved an impressive balance in delivery of truly integrative and multidisciplinary healthcare
