Multicare Health Clinic celebrates 15 years in Siouxland

Multicare was started as a unique concept in health care by Dr. Scott Sneller, a Sioux City native and chiropractor who opened and operated his own practice, Sneller Chiropractic Health Center, on Lakeport Road, upon receiving his doctorate degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1996.

Originally named Multicare Physicians Group, Multicare Health Clinic as it is known today came about because of Sneller's desire to have all different types of health care brought together under one roof.

He searched for like-minded individuals throughout the other once opposing medical fields, and in 2001, formed Multicare, Iowa's first and Sioux City's only multidiscipline clinic of Chiropractic Doctors, Medical Doctors, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists, Psychologists, and Acupuncturists.

Since then, the clinic has specialized in the treatment of pain, numbness, headaches, or stiffness throughout any area of the neck, back, arms or legs.

"Patients only truly benefit from their care when we as health care professionals put our differences aside and work together," said Sneller, a recipient of the Most Outstanding Graduate Award from Palmer College of Chiropractic.

"This type of care is the most efficient, cost effective, and sought after care. By being able to confer with one another, patients aren't being told what's wrong and how to treat it by one provider, and something entirely different by another provider. This truly saves time and money with the confidence of knowing the right diagnosis with the shortest and best treatment possible."

He learned firsthand the importance of collaboration with other health care professionals when he was a chiropractor at Sneller Chiropractic Health Center. 

“We could offer our patients pain relief by addressing misalignments through chiropractic adjustments, but that pain relief would not last more than a month because we did not do any physical therapy, which would prevent muscles, tendons and ligaments from bringing back that misalignment.

"Physical therapists were able to loosen up a muscle or bring down swelling, but that tight muscle and swelling would shortly return because they did not address the misalignment component that was causing it. Now, with our team, like a misalignment on a car, we can loosen things up to fix the misalignment easier, and then once corrected, educate the patients on how to keep things stable with stretches or exercises.

“I’m pleased to say, that now, 95 percent of our patients are treated and released from active care within about a month of starting their care," he said.

His goal was to have a combination of physicians for the clinic with physical medicine at its core. 

"We knew we wanted to have doctors to stick with what they were best at. Chiropractors are the best at fixing bones and joints, so that's what they would do. Physical Therapists are the best at dealing with soft tissue injuries, so that's what they would do, and the Medical Doctors are truly valuable with their examination capabilities to relate all things together and make referrals to outside specialists if needed," he said.

Their slogan at the time was "Leading the way in health care today." Since then, they have used the slogan, "The right team, the right care...Multicare."

In 2002, Multicare built its 9,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility at 3930 Stadium Drive and filled it with with new technology ranging from motion X-rays to the area's first digital diagnostic and treatment tools to be able to treat a wide array of patients. 

Multicare expanded its treatment to include area athletes 14 years ago. Sneller and Multicare Health Clinic had been selected to treat the professional athletes of the Sioux City Explorers and since then, the Sioux City Musketeers. 

Multicare has been providing interns for the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs over the years, and they had recently sent a full-time doctor from Multicare to work there.

Because of Multicare's continued success in treating these athletes, and their advanced certification of sports injuries, athletes of all ages have been choosing Multicare for their rehabilitation and prevention needs. Sneller happily worked with BOTH of Siouxland's 2016 male and female high school athletes of the year.

For the younger athletes, Multicare has gone out of its way to revolutionize even the way routine sports physicals are performed in town. Above and beyond the comprehensive exam, a portable ECG heart screening along with height and growth charts are now available for each sports physical.

Using their many assessment tools and prevention screenings, Multicare also performs Sioux City Fire & Rescue's annual fitness assessments for their employees and treats workers compensation cases for Siouxland companies.

Because of his endeavors, Sneller at Multicare has received the Spirit of Siouxland Award and The Service Award for outstanding patient care and contributions to the community.

Since 2012, Multicare has been known as Multicare Health Clinic to more accurately represent what they do at the clinic, which is improve the health and care of their patients. 

In April, Sneller and Multicare will be having an anniversary celebration of Sneller's 20th year in practice and 15 years of having the Multicare team together.

"It will be exciting and fun. We will do it in a way to honor our over 14,000 patients we have been blessed to serve, and to give back to this amazing community for supporting us during those years," he said.

Multicare is currently accepting new patients.