The Ortman Chiropractic Clinic can be found in the small town of Canistota in southeastern South Dakota. As described in this piece in Mennonite World Review (“For Amish, long trip to chiropractor can be fun”), the clinic is noteworthy for the many Amish and other Anabaptist people it draws:

The Ortman Clinic, which celebrated its centennial in 2015, has been attracting Amish patients for 70 years. Today Amish, plus black-bumper Mennonites from Arkansas and some Hutterites, make up 40 percent of the practice.

Its popularity among the Amish is especially striking since none lived in South Dakota until 2010, when several families from Wisconsin established a new community about 60 miles southwest of Canistota.

Amish people from as far off as New York and Delaware make the 1,000-mile-plus journey to seek relief at the clinic. But why are they coming so far, with much more conveniently-located options at hand?

ortman-clinic-postcard

Ortman Clinic postcard, circa 1950s

For one, Amish people can be quite motivated to solve health issues, sometimes traveling across the country, or even out of it, in pursuit of a potential remedy. One unnamed man from Ohio admits to nine trips to the clinic since 2000…adding that some come every six months.

Personal recommendations factor heavily into Amish health care decisions, as Steven Nolt explains: “Who you trust . . . may be based as much on what kind of medical care your aunt received as on other factors.”

Nolt also suspects that Amish are going so far because they don’t mind the chance to take a fun journey.

The idea of a regular “vacation” is not an ingrained part of the Amish mentality as it is among non-Amish Americans. But if the trip has a practical purpose, it makes it a lot easier to justify.

Amish people enjoy travel and seeing new places as much as you or I do. “They just seem to have a great time when they’re here,” says Tom Ortman, grandson of one of the business’s founders.

As far as accommodation while in town, I found this quite interesting:

The clinic draws thousands of patients a year to Canistota, a town of fewer than 700 residents. Four motels are located within a block of the clinic, and a fifth is four blocks away on the edge of town.

Gale Bouma, owner and operator of the Depot Inn next to the clinic, said 85 percent of her business is Amish. “Some people even clean their rooms before they leave,” she said.

And if you’ve ever wondered what Amish people do for church when so far from home:

The lobby of the Ortman Hotel is stocked with books and games. A popular group activity is singing, for which the Ortmans keep a supply of hymnbooks. Tom’s cousin Ivan, another chiropractor at the clinic, noted that the Amish have their own worship services if one of the patients is a minister. Amish have even accompanied doctors to their own congregations on Sundays.

Chiropractic services are quite popular in Amish communities. Local clinics as well as visiting practitioners serve the need for those not willing or able to trek to the Mount Rushmore State.

Image: playle.com

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