Kai Shin Clinic was started by Dr. Alana Sasaki in 2016, shortly after she finished her medical residency. “I recall not wanting to open a clinic at the time. After studying so long to become a physician, a career at a hospital was more than satisfying. I did not want to then move forward with adding more work on and opening a private practice. The thought was daunting.”
Despite Dr. Sasaki’s reluctance, thoughts of opening a clinic persisted, “Sometimes in life, there are recurrent themes. I am a firm believer in this, and the words and theme that kept echoing in my mind over and over again were ‘start a private practice.’ I tried to ignore it because it seemed like too big of a task. But with the passing of Minnesota music legend Prince in the spring of 2016, it became clear that addiction medicine services were desperately needed. People needing help were not able to readily get it.”
The launch of Kai Shin Clinic came in June 2016, with the goal being to disrupt the way addiction medicine services were delivered, making them more provider-driven, with access more readily available to those that need it.
Since 2016, the clinic has grown from a small part-time private clinic seeing patients out of Roseville in a 500 square foot office, to now servicing 10,000 patients across the metro. We have a partnership with Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, Park Avenue Treatment Center, Ramsey Detox, and 1800 Hennepin Detox. We have four main locations , 777 Raymond, 1919 University, 7831 Glenroy, and 5th Street, with an additional 12 satellite locations. We have grown from a team of 2 employees to over 40 employees.