"I've wanted Meadowlands to be the first hospital in New Jersey to have chiropractors on staff, and we have finally done it," said Meadowlands CEO Paul Cavalli, MD. Dr. Cavalli noted that the hospital's original bylaws specify an adjunct staff of osteopaths, podiatrists, psychologists, and chiropractors. It took 18 years for that bylaw to become a reality.
Albert Cattafi, DC, president of the New Jersey Chiropractic Society, and Joseph Johnson, DC, instigated the lobbing efforts to make chiropractic available at Meadowlands. They, along with DCs Catherine Kelly and Nicholas Rizzitello, gave presentations and demonstrations of chiropractic to the medical staff and became the original four DCs on staff, with Dr. Cattafi as chief of the chiropractic department.
Working with the medical staff, the DCs set up a department structure, quality assurance guidelines, and a credentialing policy. The chiropractic credentialing policy at Meadowlands requires that a DC must be in practice for at least three years; have taken a hospital protocol course from a CCE school; and it is considered a plus if the DC is actively involved with chiropractic associations/societies.
As the chiropractors are members of the adjunct staff, patients are admitted under the joint authority of the DC and an MD. "If I admit a patient for a back problem," explained Dr. Cattafi, "it is still a co-admission with the medical physician. I would be the doctor in charge of the patient and what he gets. If I admit a patient with a non-chiropractic complaint, they would get whatever medical work-up and treatment was needed. I would still be able to see the patient and provide chiropractic adjustments and treatment."
In the first three months, the four DCs had co-admitted enough patients to warrant an increase in the chiropractic staff. By March of 1995, the chiropractic staff had grown to 12. The DCs are full-time, full-fledged members of the hospital staff, and attend all staff meetings.
The chiropractic department is working to get a day set aside to allow the DCs to treat the hospital staff. The DCs are also seeking to be part of the emergency room staff.
Dr. Cattafi praised hospital CEO Paul Cavalli, MD, for his visionary health care move to bring chiropractic to Meadowlands, and applauded the support of the hospital board of trustees, medical staff, and administration.
Dr. Cattafi reports that the chiropractic department will continue to expand. Phillip Santiago, DC, CCSP, is expected to come on board at Meadowlands to start a sports chiropractic program with the hospital's chief of orthopedics. Dr. Santiago, you may recall, was the "official" chiropractor on the U.S. Olympic Committee medical team for the 1992 Barcelona games (see "Olympic Games Inspire Optimal Athletic Care," Dec. 4, 1992, "DC").
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