Luke Bloomberg

Listening to Luke Bloomberg, a 2010 alumnus of NCHS, you hear an articulate, kind, and cheerful voice. While that might not seem extraordinary, in his profession and in life, these attributes are almost divine. Like his father, Luke is a chiropractor dedicated to helping and healing people. He does this with a clear understanding of his own limits and the boundaries of medicine. The moment you hear him speak, you know you’re in the presence of a genuinely good man. Luke is exactly the person you’d want to greet you at his office, whether he’s making adjustments, administering nutritional IVs, or caring for residents at the Assisted Living Center. Beyond his adept skills as a chiropractor, Luke’s cheerfulness and genuine demeanor make him not just an effective healer but a compassionate listener. These qualities are crucial in his field, where the people he helps benefit from much more than just the science of his practice.

Healing is truly a family affair for Luke. His father is also a chiropractor, and as Luke puts it, they’re “colleagues.” They work together at their practice, side by side. During our interview, Luke’s dad enters and, in a moment of true sentiment, expresses how proud and touched he is to have his son and colleague right there with him. They share ideas and support each other, like two streams of the same river, bound by a common source that’s powerful and undeniable.

Luke’s journey into medicine wasn’t solely influenced by his father. While at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), he studied and worked as a valet at events, parties, and political benefits, and fondly remembers his days of parking cars. His friends encouraged him to pursue medicine and the family trade. He finished his degree in biology at SIUE and, like some of his friends, went on to Logan Chiropractic College. His father was thoroughly excited when Luke decided to join the family practice, seeing him not just as a son but as a colleague. Now, they work together in Newton, father and son, colleagues and friends, learning from one another and helping those in need.

Many have tentative feelings about their fathers, and vice versa, but this is a story about familial love and dedication to medicine. It’s about a bond that’s almost sacred: two healers joyfully working together, serving their community, and alleviating pain. When asked about his feelings on his profession, Luke notes, “We’re at a wonderful advantage that is not common in medicine because we see our patients more regularly. And the other thing too, it’s another thing I say all the time, there’s no risk. This is so safe, so there’s very little risk for trying these things out. The worst-case scenario is it doesn’t work. We’re not going to make you worse by trying these things.” The Hippocratic Oath’s principle of “do no harm” is taken to heart by Luke and his father—they practice it and live it.

But Luke’s identity extends beyond his medical career. He found a part of himself through band and high school musicals. These creative pursuits, though not directly related to medicine, played a significant role in shaping him. “Those are very, very fun memories and, you know, even to talk to those people in the musicals and in the marching band to this day, those are pivotal memories for me and them as well.” Though college kept him busy with science and medicine, the arts profoundly affected him, bringing him out of his shell and into another realm. If a poet like William Carlos Williams can practice medicine, then a chiropractor like Luke can certainly embrace music.

Luke Bloomberg offers valuable advice to young people wondering where to go and what to do: “I’m very, very impressed with high schoolers that come into this office. They can have a conversation with you that convinces you they have at least an idea about where life takes them.” Casting a cynical eye on the young is too easy, but Luke doesn’t fall for that. When we ask him for a few words of guidance he’d offer this year’s NCHS graduates, kids who’ve walked the same halls as he did, Luke ends on a hopeful note, “Don’t be so self-assured in what you’re doing today, that you can’t be open to trying different things down the road, and also approach life in a way that you can accept that there’s a very realistic possibility that things might change for you down the road, or a very realistic possibility you might be wrong. Have a happy, healthy sense of self-doubt.”

There’s no better way to conclude than with Luke’s own words. Thank goodness for Luke and his father, working side by side, helping and healing their community.