According to Solana CEO John Buckingham, “We created a new market segment by combining aesthetic healthcare with the spa movement, coming from the medical rather than the spa side. The medical spa or medspa movement represents the fastest growing and most lucrative healthcare trend in the United States today.” Medspas are defined as comfortable, spa-like facilities that provide consumers with fast and convenient access to top quality, non-invasive aesthetic medical procedures under the strict supervision of a board certified plastic surgeon and other licensed healthcare professionals.

“We believe that Solana’s flexibility is a key selling point against franchised organizations,” Buckingham notes. “Our client / owners benefit from Solana’s network strength, commitment to territory protection, and focus on the success of individual owners as a rallying point, versus franchise organizations who are more concerned with the aggregate growth of the entire network,” he continues.

“Every day 12,000 Americans turn 50, amounting to one every eight seconds,” Buckingham says. “This trend will continue for the next 20 years with studies showing that the number of Americans over 55 will grow by 60 percent in the next 20 years and their buying power will exceed $2 trillion by 2007. As this market explodes, we believe that Solana will grow as well.”

Indeed, key industry sources point to healthy growth in the medspa sector. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 2004 has seen a 450 percent increase in demand for non-invasive aesthetic medical procedures over the past 4 years. The International Spa Association 2004 reports that 15 percent of the over 7,000 day spas in the United States now offer aesthetic medical procedures and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 2004 states that Botox still tops non-invasive procedures with over 2.8 million procedures performed in 2004. The desire for a “stress-free” environment, as well as access to more non-invasive alternatives and technology such as laser and other high tech anti-aging solutions predicts steady triple figure annual growth for medspas over the next 20 years. Solana currently has 45 client / owners, of which 11 are open, 13 will open before Sept. 1 and 30 will be open by Dec. 31, 2005.

Solana prides itself on having a strong corporate management team, comprised of individuals who are leaders in the healthcare field and have extensive industry experience at every level. In addition to being CEO of Solana MedSpas, Buckingham is also a founding board member of the International Medical Spa Association and serves as their vice president of corporate affairs. Buckingham is also the co-creator with the University of California, Irvine of their new Spa and Hospitality Certificate Program.

Prior to joining Solana MedSpas, Buckingham was chancellor and president of the Brooks College System, headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. Under Buckingham’s leadership, revenue grew 40 percent and net income tripled, due in part to the school’s healthcare curriculum expansion. Buckingham holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy with distinction from Purdue University and a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Distribution Source : ArriveNet