Jeffrey Knowles, D.C., who practices in Carlsbad, California, arrived at Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego feeling a little unsure about his reception at the hospital desk. Upon his arrival, however, he was treated with professional courtesy and directed to his patient's room. Any thoughts about his own discomfort vanished when he saw his patient lying in the hospital bed in a great deal of pain.
Ms. Cram was suffering severe bilateral neck pain radiating into her upper thoracic spine and she was experiencing a severe migraine type headache with accompanying nausea. According to Dr. Knowles, these symptoms occur frequently during or following surgery when a patient must lie for a long period of time with the head and neck in one position. In fact, while Dr. Knowles was there treating Ms. Cram, the patient in the next bed complained that she was experiencing head and neck pain also and thought maybe she would ask to have her chiropractor called in.
Dr. Knowles pulled the hospital bed away from the wall and after carefully moving June to a comfortable position, gave her an adjustment of the cervical spine. June stated that she received immediate relief and had no further neck pain or headache for the duration of her hospital stay. She appreciated Dr. Knowles coming to the hospital to give her a needed adjustment and was grateful to her treating doctor, Benito Villaneuva, M.D., and the hospital for agreeing to have Dr. Knowles provide chiropractic care in the hospital.
While it is unusual for a hospital or a medical doctor to consent to such an arrangement, Dr. Knowles points out that there is a significant need for chiropractic care in the hospital setting. He believes that Scripps Memorial Hospital and Dr. Villaneuva are both to be commended for their foresight and for putting patient needs and requirements above philosophical views on alternative health.