Published April 2002

Everett trio shares professional,
brotherly bonds

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

While most boys his age were dreaming about becoming an astronaut, a police officer or maybe a star quarterback, 11-year-old Stephen Welly wanted to be a chiropractor.

That year, severe headaches brought on by a neck injury made his life miserable. His parents took him to medical doctors, optometrists, even a neurologist, but still the headaches returned, day in and day out.

“My folks didn’t know anything about chiropractic,” said Welly, referring to the branch of healing arts that focuses on the adjustment and manipulation of the spinal column to treat pain and illness.

“Some friends of the family suggested that (my parents) take me to a chiropractor,” Welly said. “Within three visits my headaches were gone, and that’s when I decided that I was going to be a chiropractor.”

And he did, graduating in 1971 from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, as a doctor of chiropractic.

In 1973, younger brother Gerald Welly followed suit, and a few years later, Lonald Welly, the youngest of the three brothers, also earned his doctor of chiropractic degree from Palmer.

While Gerald decided to go into chiropractic to see what the “new profession” was all about, Lonald, like Stephen, knew firsthand what chiropractic could do.

“I grew up being a chiropractic patient since second grade” said Lonald, who suffered from stomachaches as a child.

Today, more than 40 years after Stephen was treated for his headaches, the three Welly brothers are treating their own patients in office space at 2520 Colby Ave. in downtown Everett.

Together, the Wellys have about 75 years of experience in chiropractic, and over the years, they have seen a lot of changes in the health-care industry — including a growing acceptance of their profession.

For one thing, insurance coverage has increased for chiropractic care.

“When I first started, L and I (the state Department of Labor and Industries) covered chiropractic, DSHS (the state Department of Social and Health Services) covered it and a few insurers,” Stephen said.

Now, Lonald said, there are few insurers that don’t cover chiropractic in some form.

“It all depends on the insurance policies,” Gerald added. “It’s all over the board.”

Along with the change in coverage, there has been a change in attitude.

“Managed care has created a lot more understanding of chiropractic in the medical community,” said Lonald, who continues to practice in Smokey Point as well as in the Colby office. “Because of managed care, I think we’re all forced into cooperating, and now that they see the validity of chiropractic, the benefits from it, we’re less the ‘other guy.’ ”

Recognition of chiropractic’s validity has been spurred along by published research in recent years, he said, including the Agency on Health Care Policy and Research’s Clinical Practice Guideline No. 14, “Acute Low-Back Problems in Adults.”

Released in December 1994, the guideline gives a “B” grade to physical treatment such as manipulation of the lower back within the first month of symptoms. In the same guideline, acetaminophen medication was given a “C” grade for treating low-back pain.

“It’s the same thing we’ve done all along,” Stephen said. “Now we have a scientific way to explain it and prove it.”

Chiropractic care received another push in January when President Bush signed into law the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001, which authorizes the hiring of doctors of chiropractic in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system.

“It will open up a lot of chiropractic care to veterans,” said Stephen, whose practice includes adults as well as children.

Indeed, all three Welly brothers say they treat a wide range of patients, from toddlers to senior citizens. But before a prospective patient can be treated, the Wellys perform a physical examination and take X-rays as well as a medical history to determine if chiropractic is the appropriate treatment.

For example, someone with a broken bone is referred to a doctor of medicine as is someone with bone cancer, Gerald said.

“I want to be right up front and move that patient to where they need to be,” Lonald said, “so that we become the portal of entry, and our clientele, our patients, have come to rely on that, ‘We’ll see what Welly has to say.’”

“Our bottom line is we want to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons,” he said.

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