A nonprofit clinic offering chiropractic treatment to low-income patients has opened in Kalispell.

Caring Chiropractic Inc. at 847 W. Center St. will be directed by chiropractic physician Lynda Purdy, with Jean Fox as chief operating and finance officer.

Nonprofit chiropractic clinics are few and far between in the United States, Purdy said. The closest such facility is in Portland.

Offering care on a sliding fee based on income is an idea Purdy has been mulling for years.

“There are lots of folks with no insurance or very high deductibles with their insurance,” she said. “I want to make this about the big picture of getting people well.”

The task of setting up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seemed overwhelming until Purdy joined forces with Fox.

The two had met while working at TeleTech a few years ago when the recession forced Purdy to find a second job. Years ago, Fox had been a nursing assistant and health unit clerk at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. She has a degree in medical coding and has been one of Purdy’s patients for several years.

“It was a perfect match,” Purdy said.

It took four months, working evenings and after work hours, to complete the paperwork for nonprofit status. The women brought in a third assistant, Tina Appling, who designed the logo and set up a website and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Once the application was submitted to the Internal Revenue Service, it took almost a year to get approval. Purdy and Fox had to get a taxpayer advocate to find out the IRS was not approving any health-care related nonprofits because of potential changes in health-care laws looming on the horizon.

It took intervention from Rep. Denny Rehberg’s office to finally get the application review going, Purdy said.

Caring Chiropractic began seeing patients in mid-March with limited hours: Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m.; Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sixteen chiropractic physicians throughout the Flathead Valley have agreed to donate their services on a rotating basis, along with three physical therapists, three occupational therapists and three to five massage therapists.

Eventually, Purdy hopes to merge her practice with the nonprofit clinic, and her patients would become part of the Caring Chiropractic clientele, she said.

The nonprofit clinic will use federal poverty guidelines for its sliding fee scale. Clients at or under 120 percent of the currently federal poverty guidelines would receive free care. The sliding scale would require some clients to pay $10, $15 or more per visit.

It will be the client’s responsibility to request an evaluation of his or her income prior to receiving care in the nonprofit clinic.

Fox and Purdy eventually would like to relocate Caring Chiropractic to space in the Gateway Community Center.

Ongoing fundraising will be part of the process. The women plan to seek both grant funding and private donations.

For more information, go online to www.caringchiropractic.org. To schedule an appointment call 755-1113.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.