Dr. Weiss first applied for privileges at Fletcher Allen in 1988. Hospital administrators had twice rejected his applications before deciding in 1996 to let chiropractors treat patients. It then took another two years for the hospital to iron out the details of giving chiropractors privileges before finally granting them to Dr. Weiss this October.
At the hospital, Dr. Weiss is strictly limited to the diagnosis and treatment of adults with acute low-back pain, and then only with the endorsement of a supervising physician. Philip Mead, the medical director for Fletcher Allen, explained the reasoning behind such strict privileges. "Overall I think there's a change toward at least wanting to understand these modes of therapy better and see where they fit in," Mead said. "The policy is very limited because we did try to base it as much as possible on supportable scientific evidence."1
"I think there's still some turf battles," Dr. Weiss said. "If a patient is coming to my office, they're not going to their office."
Fletcher Allen Health Care was founded in 1995. The hospital and its related clinics and centers treat more than 850,000 people in Vermont and upstate New York.
Dr. Williams Elected to Sports Hall of Fame
SCAN Pic: Dr. Williams, a member of the Georgia Tech team that won the 1952 Orange Bowl, was recently named to his alma mater's sports hall of fame.
Dr. Sid Williams, founder and president of Life University, has been elected to the sports hall of fame at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The honor recognizes Dr. Williams as one of the greatest sports figures at Georgia Tech.
Dr. Williams earned a football scholarship to Georgia Tech and began playing for the Yellowjackets in 1948. Two years later, he earned a spot as a starting defensive end for the varsity squad; in 1951, he was a star member of the Georgia Tech team that won the Southeastern Conference, beat Baylor in the Orange Bowl 19-14 and finished the season ranked fifth in the nation.
It was in the Orange Bowl that Dr. Williams sustained an injury, which led him to seek chiropractic care after traditional medicine failed to provide adequate relief. The treatment Dr. Williams received was successful and influenced him to become a doctor of chiropractic.
A longtime supporter of athletics at all levels, Dr. Williams has crafted Life University into a sports powerhouse. In a one-month span in 1997, four Life teams earned national championships in basketball, indoor track and field, outdoor track and hockey. Life has also been the home to international track meets in 1995 and 1996. Olympic athletes who trained at the college facilities in preparation for the 1996 Atlanta Games garnered 27 medals, including five gold medals in track and field.
Foot Levelers Contributes $25,000 to Northwestern Clinic
Foot Levelers, Inc., has given Northwestern College of Chiropractic a $25,000 contribution toward the construction of the De Rusha Clinical Education Center. When completed, the 9,000 square foot clinic will feature 16 examination and treatment rooms, an x-ray lab, office space, a reception area and meeting rooms.
The clinic is named after J. Lamoine De Rusha, a highly-respected professor who died in 1989. "Everybody knew about him and loved him," said Kent Greenawalt, the president of Foot Levelers. "Dr. De Rusha was an absolutely remarkable teacher and wonderful man. This student clinic is a very fitting way to memorialize him."
Northwestern has raised nearly $230,000 of the necessary half-million dollars to complete the clinic. For more information, or to donate to the De Rusha Center, contact Jim McDonald, the college's vice president of institutional advancement at (612) 885-5411.
Dr. Mueller's Celebrates 50 Years in Chiropractic
Last month Dr. Joseph Mueller, 83, celebrated his 50th anniversary as a practicing chiropractor. Dr. Mueller still maintains an active one-man practice in St. Charles, Missouri, working six hours every day but Wednesday and doing his own paperwork.
Dr. Mueller was raised in St. Charles, Missouri. After graduating from high school in 1933, he served in the Pacific in World War II. A bout with malaria while in the service motivated him to enter the healing arts.
After the war, Mueller returned to Missouri and attended the Missouri Chiropractic School. He graduated in 1949 and opened a practice in O'Fallon and then Bonne Terre before moving his office to St. Charles in 1953.
Dr. Mueller has treated tens of thousands of patients from across the U.S., from five-day-old infants to centenarians. He has treated patients with everything from headaches and backaches to polio and cerebral palsy. One patient from Barrow, Alaska even made a yearly appointment with Mueller.
It isn't unusual to see a line of patients extending out the door in front of his office. "I don't advertise," Dr. Mueller explained. "My patients spread the word for me."
Dr. Mueller characterizes chiropractic as a concept and treatment that is so simple that it works. "If I can't help them, I send them where they need to go," he admits.
Dr. Mueller shows no signs of slowing down. "I get up in the morning, and if I don't see my name in the obituary column, I come in."
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