About Us (Our History)

Physicians Neck & Back Clinics (PNBC) are medical facilities located in Minneapolis, St. Paul area including Roseville, MN, Woodbury, MN, Coon Rapids, MN, Eden Prairie, MN, Lakeville, MN, and Maple Grove, MN. Our physicians are board certified in various specialties including Orthopedic Surgery, Physiatry, Occupational Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Emergency Medicine.

We specialize in the treatment of chronic neck and/or back pain that may often be accompanied by arm or leg pain respectively.

Founded in 1990, PNBC has treated over 100,000 patients and is different from most other facilities that treat chronic spinal pain. PNBC concentrates on improving strength and endurance and does not offer passive modalities such as manipulation, ultrasound, TENS, injection therapy, acupuncture, etc. While these passive modalities will often provide temporary relief, PNBC believes, along with many of the world's foremost authorities on spinal disease, that lasting improvement comes from improvements in spinal fitness--our program reflects that belief. Furthermore, our published outcome studies support the effectiveness of this "sports medicine" approach and our physicians and physical therapists, who provide the comprehensive and consistent medical care to each patient, guide this approach to obtain the best possible long term improvement of chronic disorders of the spine.

There are other facilities that have tried to copy the PNBC treatment model.  You may have seen them on the web.  Notice that those facilites often highlight published studies showing that surgery can be prevented or that superb outcomes have been obtained.  What they fail to tell you is that those studies were performed and published by PNBC. Getting a scientific article published in a peer reviewed medical journal is a difficult undertaking representing hundreds of hours of work and data collection. PNBC has taken the time to prove the superiority of its approach by publishing its outcomes and we invite all other facilites to do the same instead of implying that our outcomes are their own.  We have developed the protocols and proven their efficacy with over 100,000 patients.  No other facility comes close to this amount of experience.

PNBC Physicians Recognized for Delivering Quality Spine Care

The following PNBC Physicians were the first in the State of Minnesota to be awarded recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance Back Pain Recognition Program : 

Alison J. Coulter, M.D.. Patrick F. Hergott, M.D. Karen R. Kane, M.D. Charles E. Kelly, M.D. John M. Knutson, M.D. Andrew D. Maas, M.D. Caroline Anna Mason, M.D. Gloria J. Peterson, M.D. Monty S. Seper, M.D. Joseph A. Wegner, M.D., M.P.H

2-year Recognition (June 24, 2008 - June 24, 2010)

NOTICE

"On December 1, 2009, substantially all the PNBC assets were acquired by a nonprofit subsidiary of HealthPartners, Inc.  Our clinics are now a separate nonprofit company in the HealthPartners family of care.  We will continue to do business under the PNBC and Physicians Neck & Back Clinic names.  All staff remain with the new PNBC. So, Patients will continue to see their same physicians and other caregivers, at the same clinic locations. "