About Us

Our Story

We believe strongly in acupuncture’s place in healthcare and want it to be affordable for everyone. Acupuncture’s potential as a viable healing modality cannot be fully realized if it’s inaccessible to most people, so it became evident and so important that we create a space to provide acupuncture in a more affordable way here in Ohio. A grassroots movement born out of a clinic in Portland, Oregon, coined the term ‘Community Acupuncture’ – the model of treating multiple patients in the same room and charging each of them less to allow acupuncture to be received more frequently as the therapy that it is intended to be. It opened up the possibility of acupuncture to more people all the while circumventing the insurance industry and our ailing healthcare system, which seems inherently broken; services and beautiful buildings exist, but accessibility and affordability simply do not. Community Acupuncture has been spreading like wildfire across the country ever since. That’s what good ideas tend to do.

Urban Acupuncture Center, Ohio’s 1st Community Acupuncture clinic, was co-founded by Steve Drugan and Susan Bowlus in 2010.

All of the acupuncturists at Urban Acupuncture Center meet the highest standards of education and certification required to practice acupuncture. Most practicing acupuncturists in the United States are ‘licensed acupuncturists.’ Though licensing requirements vary by state, licensing boards generally require an approximately 2000-hour curriculum completed over 3 years of post-graduate study from an accredited school. Additionally, practitioners must successfully complete the national board examinations brokered by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). The practice of acupuncture in Ohio requires both national certification by the NCCAOM as well as licensure issued by the State Medical Board of Ohio.

Acupuncturists are trained to treat the body as a whole system.  Therefore, you do not need to see a specific therapist for a specific condition.