C.B. business owner will give you her orthopedic clinic — if you're the right fit
The owner of a Sydney, N.S., orthopedic clinic is looking for someone to take over her business — for free.
Jennifer Halliday, an orthopedic bracing specialist, is leaving Advanced Mobility Orthopaedics Ltd. because her husband got a new job. Since he moved to Cape Breton for her, Halliday said it was fair to return the favour.
But after putting the business on the market for five months and getting barely any response, she has decided to give it to someone with the right credentials.
"I don't want to leave my patients with no services so we've decided to give it away. If we can find someone with the proper training and licensing to come down here … we are prepared to give it away," said Halliday.
Willing to move to Cape Breton
Since announcing she's giving away her business, Halliday has received calls from people in the southern U.S., Alberta and Nova Scotia.
"My dream is to find someone who is qualified to do the work, who's willing to move to Cape Breton and service my patients, keep my business open so my staff still have a place to work," she said.
The ideal candidate must be willing to keep the prosthetics and orthotics clinic at the business running, as it's the only private clinic in the province, she said. Halliday said a colleague comes to the clinic to see amputees on the island.
'Extremely busy' clinic
Halliday, who is originally from Cape Breton, said her clinic is "extremely busy" with an eight-week waiting list. The clinic doesn't advertise and the people coming in hear about it by word of mouth, she said.
"There's lots of work here. There are no worries that a person would come down and the business would fold. There's too much work."
When speaking to potential new owners, Halliday said she tries to sell them on the beauty of Cape Breton and how much more affordable it is than other places in Canada.
"Go on the web and see what the cost of a three-bedroom house is in CBRM [Cape Breton Regional Municipality] as opposed to metro Toronto or Vancouver. You can have so much more here."
'My heart is here'
Halliday said she'll miss her parents and her clients. She plans to come back to Cape Breton for holidays and hopes the new owner of the clinic would allow her to do contract work.
"We're moving somewhere else, but we're not leaving," said Halliday. "My heart is here. It's just that we had to make the tough decision."
Paul Strome was at the clinic Tuesday for a fitting. He said Halliday and her staff are great people and that he's sad she's leaving.
"After I stop crying, I'm just really hopeful someone of Jennifer's calibre will pick up the business," Strome said.
