Right off Pacific Coat Highway in the heart of Corona Del Mar sits a small office space, lined with eight very comfortable chaise lounges, each with a pillow and blanket resting on top. The space is designed with floor to ceiling windows, allowing for people watching and plenty of natural sunlight. You walk into the space and a friendly face greets you. This nurse checks you in for your appointment and if you’re a first time patient, you’ll need to fill out a few forms on an iPad. This goes over your medical history and goals coming from your IV therapy treatment, which is then gone over one on one with a registered nurse.
This is the Hydration Room. The first IV therapy to open in Orange County, Dr. Brett Florie, anesthesiologist and co-founder, created the Hydration Room originally to help treat his wife’s migraines through vitamins and fluids. Dr. Florie quickly realized he would be able to help other people, whether they are in chronic pain or if they are just looking to keep themselves healthy. He also wanted an environment where patients could relax and not feel like they are stuck in a depressing, contagious hospital room. “I tried to create more of a fish bowl-type setting where people walk by and take a double look, kind of a shock factor,” said Dr. Florie.
Elective IV therapy debuted in Las Vegas in 2012 as a mobile hangover remedy. A standard infusion bag would then be filled with water, vitamins and antioxidants to quickly help people feel more hydrated and boost their overall health after a long night on the Vegas Strip.
The Hydration Room offers 26 different IV treatments and 10 injections. The injections range in price from $25 to $90, where the IV’s start at $85 and can go up to $750 per treatment, depending if you are customizing your vitamins. Once the patient is hooked up to the IV, the process takes about 30 minutes. The Hydration Room has TV’s, books, magazines, but most patients like to spend those 30 minutes relaxing and scrolling through their phones.
“We have patients that are anywhere from 21 years old to 95,” says Shaun Hayward, director of operations. “This is not a one size fits all place. It all depends on each patient’s personal goals.” The Hydration Room really focuses on overall wellness and using preventative health to ensure all their patients are staying hydrated and getting the vitamins their bodies need.
Many people are still skeptical about letting anyone other than a doctor put an IV in their arm and inject their body with fluids. “This is the same thing that you get in the ER,” says Hayward. “When you walk into the emergency room with cold, flu or GI symptoms what is the first thing they do? Hook you up to an IV.” All of the employees at the Hydration Room are registered nurses who are trained in inserting IV’s and are able to see common symptoms amongst patients.
The Hydration Room has treated over 30,000 patients in the past four years and many of those people are reoccurring patients. They receive patients who come in once a week for a B12 injection boost or come in twice a month for IV therapy.
“These nurses are very well trained to see common symptoms among clientele,” says Hayward. “These are the same things they are seeing in the ER. Anything outside of that goes straight to Dr. Florie.” Dr. Florie is very involved with all the clinics and every patient. What is going to work for one patient may not work for another, therefore every fluid bag is adjusted to a patient’s specific needs.
“Many people come in before they go on trips or go to a music festival,” Hayward said. “They are using the IV fluid as preventative health and making sure they remain healthy during their busy schedules.” The Hydration Room’s busiest day of the year is always Dec. 23rd. “Always right before the holidays people like to come in before they see their families or go away on vacation to help make sure they don’t get sick,” Hayward said.
The first Hydration Room was opened in December 2014 in Newport Beach. This is still the most popular clinic, but they have been expanding in the last five years. There are currently eight Hydration Rooms throughout Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles, and their ninth clinic will be launching in Seal Beach early next week, located at 800 Pacific Coast Highway, and a clinic in Pasadena later this month. Every first time patient gets a free B12 shot with any service they choose, so make sure to stop by a location nearest you and book your appointment at thehydrationroom.com.
That was a great write up !! a lot of info was given. I think I might try it out!!
Heard of snake oil? This is snake water. There’s not a shred of evidence that slamming a needle into your arm is any way superior to drinking a glass of water, and the story reads like a press release. What a sad commentary on the state of OCWeekly.
I thought it was a great article! If you don’t like it stay with drink your water, hopefully you drink something better than tap!
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