Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakleen Shakur.
Hi Shakleen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey toward starting Pointcare Family & Behavioral Health began through my work as a Family Nurse Practitioner. While working in pain management at HCMC, I quickly recognized that many patients experiencing chronic pain were also struggling with significant mental health concerns. Depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use, and other behavioral health challenges were often closely connected to their physical health and their ability to recover.
That experience motivated me to further my education and become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. After completing my PMHNP certification, I began working more extensively in mental health and addiction medicine. This work reinforced something I had already seen throughout my career: physical health, mental health, and substance use cannot always be treated separately. They are often deeply interconnected.
I also saw how difficult it could be for patients to access the care they needed. Many people were ready to ask for help but did not know where to go, while others faced waiting lists of several weeks or even months within larger healthcare systems. Patients with complex needs were often navigating multiple providers and systems just to receive basic medical, psychiatric, and addiction services.
That gap in care became the inspiration for Pointcare Family & Behavioral Health. I wanted to create a practice where patients could receive comprehensive, patient-centered care without feeling lost in the healthcare system. My goal was to bring primary care and behavioral health together while also addressing substance use disorders and the broader factors affecting each patient’s well-being.
Pointcare grew from the belief that people should be able to access quality care when they are ready to seek it. What started as an idea based on the unmet needs I witnessed in clinical practice has developed into a multidisciplinary practice focused on improving access, treating the whole person, and meeting patients where they are in their healthcare journey.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road. Starting and growing an independent healthcare practice comes with challenges that you do not fully understand until you experience them firsthand.
One of the biggest challenges has been balancing the mission of providing accessible care with the financial realities of running a practice. When a patient cancels at the last minute or does not show up for an appointment, the expenses of the clinic do not stop. Staff still need to be paid, along with rent, utilities, internet, electronic health record systems, insurance, licensing fees, medical supplies, and many other operating expenses. As a small practice, even seemingly minor disruptions can have a significant impact.
There have also been challenges navigating insurance companies, reimbursement delays, credentialing, administrative requirements, and the many regulations involved in healthcare. At the same time, I have had to balance being a healthcare provider with being a business owner. I may spend part of my day caring for patients and the other part handling staffing, billing, compliance, and day-to-day business decisions.
Despite those challenges, each experience has taught me something and helped shape Pointcare into a stronger practice. It has required patience, flexibility, persistence, and a willingness to continually learn. Most importantly, the challenges have reinforced why I started Pointcare in the first place: to build a practice that remains accessible and responsive to people who might otherwise have difficulty getting the care they need.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At Pointcare Family & Behavioral Health, our work is centered on treating the whole person. We provide integrated primary care, mental health, and substance use disorder services because these areas of health are often deeply connected. We care for patients with a wide range of needs, from routine medical and preventive care to depression, anxiety, ADHD, trauma-related disorders, mood disorders, and substance use disorders.
One of the things we are known for is accessibility. Many of the patients who come to us have struggled to find a provider, have been placed on long waiting lists, or have complex needs that require more than one type of care. Because of my background as both a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, I am able to look at a patient’s physical and mental health together rather than treating each concern in isolation.
Our approach is also very personal. We are a smaller, independent practice, which allows us to meet patients where they are and take the time to understand the circumstances affecting their health. We work with individuals from many different backgrounds, including people in recovery, residential treatment programs, supportive housing, and those experiencing significant social or financial barriers to healthcare.
What I am most proud of is creating a place where people who may have felt overlooked or lost within larger healthcare systems can receive compassionate, respectful, and comprehensive care. Sometimes a person’s biggest barrier is not a lack of willingness to get better—it is simply not knowing where to turn or not being able to access a provider when they are finally ready for help.
What sets Pointcare apart is our ability to bridge those gaps. We combine medical care, behavioral health, and addiction treatment while recognizing that every patient’s situation is different. My goal has never been to build the biggest practice. It has been to build a practice where patients feel heard, where care is accessible, and where we can make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something that may surprise people is how much of Pointcare was built from the ground up through persistence, learning, and simply figuring things out along the way. My education and clinical experience prepared me to take care of patients, but becoming a business owner required an entirely different set of skills.
Behind the scenes, I have had to learn about everything from credentialing, billing, insurance contracts, compliance, staffing, and regulations to budgeting and the everyday operations of running a healthcare practice. There was no manual that told me exactly how to build Pointcare.
I think people sometimes see a healthcare practice after it has been established and assume there was a large team or significant resources behind it from the beginning. In reality, much of Pointcare started with an idea, a strong work ethic, and my belief that healthcare could be more accessible and personal.
I am still very hands-on with the practice. I am not only the owner—I continue to see patients and stay involved in the day-to-day work. That keeps me connected to why I started Pointcare in the first place. No matter how much the practice grows, I never want to lose that connection with the patients and communities we serve.
Pricing:
- new patient- 200
- follow up – 100
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pointcarebehavioral.com
