about us
Dr. McDonagh began using chelation therapy in the late 1960s and was one of five physicians in the country who pioneered the use of this therapy. At that time it was performed in the hospital setting so Dr. McDonagh would test his patients thoroughly and noticed changes that were just short of remarkable. At that same time, Dr. Rudolph was finishing his PhD, summa cum laude, in biochemistry and had taken a position as assistant professor of biochemistry at the newly established osteopathic medical school in Fort Worth, Texas, now known as TCOM. Dr. Rudolph soon realized that he would like more patient contact so after two years of teaching exclusively, he returned to medical school in Fort Worth teaching at the same time as studying medicine for the next three years. As Dr. Rudolph’s PhD thesis was on vitamin E, he found that his nutritional background allowed him to further learn nutritional therapies and thus he would lecture at medical meetings which helped him pay for school. He met Dr. McDonagh on an airplane on the way from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan where Dr. McDonagh was attending the same conference at which Dr Rudolph was lecturing. They quickly became friends. A few years later, after Dr. Rudolph completed his medical training, he walked into Dr. McDonagh’s office and the two had lunch. Dr. Rudolph asked if Dr. McDonagh needed a partner. The rest is history.
At the time of their newly formed partnership, Dr. McDonagh was occupying a small facility (2,000 square feet) in North Kansas City and after six months it was obvious that the space was inadequate. Within six months they constructed a 10,000 sq. ft. facility, and one year later in 1978 they added 6,000 sq. ft.. The facility was remodeled in 2008 and again from 2017-2019 and currently encompasses over 10,000 sq. ft. of space.
The combination of Dr. McDonagh’s pioneering spirit and Dr. Rudolph’s advanced degree in biochemistry led to the collection of data that eventually became published papers on EDTA chelation therapy.
Dr. Wennerstrom joined Dr. Rudolph in 2012 after Dr. McDonagh’s retirement and continues to operate McDonagh Medical Center in its current location. She has continued the practice modalities and expanded them, adding far IR sauna in 2017, ozone therapies in 2018, UVB in 2020, and Firefly light therapy in 2022.
