In January, both TIME and the Wall Street Journal featured stories about the Cleveland Clinic’s addition of Chinese herbal medicine to their hospital. The executives at the hospital say the herbal clinic is the first of its kind to be part of a Western hospital. I was very happy to hear this as it is commonplace in China to have an herbal department as well as an herbal pharmacy to dispense the herbs. During my internship at the Sino-Japanese hospital in Beijing several years ago, I was very impressed by the integrative approach taken there and at many hospitals throughout China and I’m pleased that we are catching up.

While the herbal clinic is new, the Hospital’s Center of Integrative Medicine has already been offering acupuncture and massage to its patients with success. Dr. Melissa Young who practices at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine told TODAY, “There are more ways of healing than just our conventional medicine,”… “It doesn’t have to be an either-or, and we’re seeing, I think, the best results often when we can combine both philosophies.”

Young recommends Chinese herbal medicine for chronic pain, headaches, fatigue, PMS, menopause, digestive disorders and insomnia. I agree with her and believe it can help with much more!

Congratulations to Cleveland Clinic on being the first to officially open its doors to Chinese Herbal Medicine! I hope to see many more integrative clinics like this in the future.