The Children’s Chiropractic Center Oklahaven is set to celebrate its 60th anniversary. This year marks six decades of successfully treating the most profoundly hurt children among us through chiropractic.
In 1962, six doctors had a vision of chiropractic for children and established a nonprofit 501 ( c ) (3). They were Dr. Raymond E. Cook, Dr. Melvin Wayne Clark, Dr. H. J. Lynch, Dr. Ed Lynch, Dr. J. C. Getteys, and Dr. Bob Baker.
The dream of the original group of doctors took shape through the years. The name Oklahaven was added to the Children’s Chiropractic Health Center of Oklahoma very soon after its inception to offer a more concise title to recognize the organization. The name has become a true description of the “haven” that restores health.
Doctors Ruth and Orville Witt bequeathed their building to the Children’s Chiropractic Center contingent on compliance with certain terms that the Center would be staffed. In 1977 Dr. Bobby Doscher from the Philadelphia area was recruited. In 1979 Dr. William Doscher and Dr. Bobby assumed the responsibility of the Center’s daily operations. Dr. Bobby became President and CEO and through her efforts, at the time of Dr. Witt’s death in 1981, the Center fulfilled the terms of the will and inherited the first building and equipment.
The increased number of patients determined the need for a larger clinic. In 1993, another facility was purchased and remodeled with the help of Dr. William Doscher. The Center’s current home is more centrally located and allows room for future expansion to serve even more children, to conduct research and to educate people about the benefits of natural, drug-free health care and the chiropractic way of life.
The children served range from newborns to teens. Most have run the gamut of traditional medicine and remain unwell. Their parents have lost hope; they’ve been told their children will not recover.
Yet Oklahaven has helped thousands of children to regain their health and to live productive lives through chiropractic. Families are taught how to take back their power and live a natural, drug-free, healthy and responsible life. The center remains a place where the most neurologically damaged children can come to be treated and restored to health.
Oklahaven has received national and international recognition for its work with children. “Oklahaven-On-The-Move” continues to provide lectures and seminars throughout the world and in the chiropractic colleges. President and CEO Dr. Bobby Doscher and staff have been invited to treat severely sick children in over 19 countries around the world: Jordan, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Germany, Ireland, England, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Estonia, Greece, New Zealand, Australia and across the U.S. Dr. Bobby has also been a speaker at numerous national and international conferences.
Each year Oklahaven sponsors a fundraising event in February called Have-A-Heart. During the week of Valentine’s Day, chiropractors show The Center’s video depicting the benefits of chiropractic for children to patients in their offices, and for a donation to the Center their name is put on a heart and displayed in their clinics. This gives the chiropractors the opportunity to increase awareness of pediatric chiropractic within their practice while at the same time supporting an internationally recognized nonprofit organization.
In Oklahaven’s 60-year history of quietly helping the children, the center has never received state, federal or United Way funding. It continues to operate on the generosity of people and organizations that believe in a natural, drug-free way of life.
For more information or to donate online, visit chiropractic4kids.com.
