Most parents agree on one thing – children usually get sick or injured after normal office hours or when the doctor is booked or out of town. The only options are hospital emergency rooms, where one can sit for hours waiting for a doctor, or acute/urgent care centers.Either way, eastern plains residents have had to drive to Colorado Springs for emergency or acute care problems. That changed Feb. 27, when Dr. Kenneth Raper and his wife, Karen, a licensed dietitian, opened Pulse Family Acute Care in the former State Bank building.Raper is an osteopathic doctor, which means in addition to traditional physician training, he also is trained in manipulative therapy and body mechanics.”I am blessed to have the training to perform osteopathic manipulative therapy on patients as well as practice traditional medicine,” Raper said.Upon completion of his medical training, Raper worked in a military hospital emergency department. “Most care given in the ER is not true emergency care but urgent care,” he said. Raper said urgent care is the treatment of common pediatric and adult illnesses, minor fractures, lacerations and abrasions, etc., on an episodic basis.After completing his stint in the military, Raper was employed as an urgent care physician for several years in St. Petersburg, Fla. A friend called and urged him to apply for a residency program in Colorado Springs, he said.”It was intriguing because as a military doctor I didn’t have the opportunity to do a residency program, so I applied and was accepted by the Colorado Springs Osteopathic Foundation & Family Medicine Center,” Raper said.He and Karen relocated to Colorado, where he moonlighted at Memorial Hospital Urgent Care while completing his residency. “I had been a licensed physician for nine years, and my income was reduced to a first-year resident,” Raper said.Raper continued to practice urgent care medicine at Memorial Hospital for an additional six years before a medical crisis of his own sidelined him. “I have a family history of extremely high cholesterol,” Raper said. After his 49-year-old brother died suddenly of a heart attack, Raper became serious about his own health.”My brother weighed less and was in better physical shape than me,” he said. Raper’s physician immediately put him on a high dose of Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug. Unfortunately, Raper was among the 2 percent of the population that have a severe, adverse reaction to the drug. “My left arm and hand went numb, became discolored and extremely painful,” he said.Raper suffered severe nerve damage that resulted in a two-year battle to restore his health. Karen Raper, also the office manager at Pulse Family Acute Care, aided her husband by designing a diet to help lower his cholesterol and increase his energy. He eventually returned to work with renewed vigor and compassion for those suffering chronic pain. “My experience has made me a better physician,” Raper said.The decision to open an urgent care facility in Falcon was not a difficult one for Raper. “There aren’t any urgent care centers east of Powers Boulevard, and it is a long drive into town when you are sick or have an injury that may need stitches,” he said. Another advantage is that appointments are not necessary. “Our patients are on a walk-in basis,” Raper said. “I can treat most all common illnesses of adults and children and also do sports, schools and department of transportation physicals, as well as workers’ comp injuries.”Pulse Family Acute Care accepts most regional insurance plans, including Medicare and TriCare, the military insurance. A 20 percent discount on office visits is offered to people who don’t have insurance or those who have high deductibles.”We are not here to replace your primary care physician,” Raper said. “However, we offer the convenience of immediate medical care when you need it the most.”Pulse Family Acute Care is hoping that more residents will take advantage of their services. “We have a great location across from Walgreen’s, little to no waiting for patients and have X-ray and lab facilities on site,” Karen Raper said.”All we need are more patients.”Pulse Family Acute Care is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Raper said in the future he intends to add a few Sunday hours.Pulse Family Acute Care: 495-9994.
