Bowing to Patients’ Wishes : Profile: San Clemente doctor makes medicinal music with violin on rounds of nursing homes, curing souls as well as bodies.

William Chase has been a medical doctor for 53 years, but for the last 10 he has been dispensing a special kind of medicine not available on pharmacy shelves.

For two days a week, the 78-year-old Chase leaves his little black bag at home, packs up his more than 100-year-old violin and heads for a seniors’ center in San Clemente and a convalescent hospital in Capistrano Beach.

On those days, music is his medicine and his operation is simple: to soothe the souls of elderly patients who suffer from depression and many other ailments including Alzheimer’s, chronic heart diseases and strokes.

At the Beverly Manor Convalescent Hospital, Chase’s violin act is a regular Thursday afternoon feature.

Nurses roll 45 wheelchair-bound patients into the hospital’s activity room. The doctor-turned-virtuoso then enters, taking turns kissing the hands of the ladies and exchanging hugs with other patients before tuning up his violin.

Then comes the opening number, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” always a hit, he says, because “it brings people together.”

When he breaks into “Irish Washerwoman,” patients begin to clap, sing and tap their feet. Others who are unable to lift their hands sway their heads to the beat.

“His music is a stimulant and an uplifting thing for the residents here,” said Kerry Davis, the hospital’s administrator. “They look forward to it so much.”

Davis described Chase, who lives and practices in San Clemente, as a “dear, old-fashioned doctor” who still makes house calls. As for the physician himself, he says simply that he believes in the healing power of music.

“I don’t think medicine can compete with music for lightening and releasing tensions,” he said. “The kinds of medicine you’ll need for making them feel joyful and happy are classified as narcotics and mood-elevating drugs. With music, the feeling of joy persists, and there is no hangover.”

Dr. J.H. (Rick) Massimino, an assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at UC Irvine’s School of Medicine, said it is not surprising that Chase’s violin is therapeutic for the seniors.

“When someone has a chronic and debilitating illness, the isolation can emotionally drain a patient,” Massimino said. “Music as therapy helps, especially if the patient had a connection with music. But in this case, what seems to be therapeutic is the fact that someone like him would sacrifice his time to spent it with them.”

Nurses at Beverly Manor say there is little doubt about the positive effects of Chase’s music.

Nursing director Georgia Hughes cites as an example 82-year-old Ulisse Vann, whose only utterances have been “I don’t know” since she suffered a stroke a few years ago.

Vann sits in the front row and pretends to conduct Chase and his piano accompanist, Eleanor Wahrman of San Clemente.

When Chase strikes up “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” Vann, a former violinist, stands up from her wheelchair and gestures to Hughes, as if to ask her to dance. Vann and Hughes then waltz to loud applause from other patients.

Later, when Chase entertains a request for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” Vann sings along, “ One, two, three. . . . “

“That’s amazing,” Hughes said. “We didn’t know she could say that.”

Chase began his music career at age 6 after his Polish immigrant parents gave him an old violin--the same one he uses to this day.

He is the first to acknowledge that he’s no Itzhak Perlman. He cannot read music but said he can always find a topical tune from the 500 songs in his repertoire and play it from memory.

During the recent Persian Gulf War, a crowd favorite was a medley that included “It’s a Grand Old Flag,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.”

“They love it,” said Chase, a World War II veteran. “Some of the people who remembered how they had rallied behind the country during the other wars are really touched.”

When Chase is not playing at the Capistrano Beach hospital, he is bringing down the house at the Adult Day Health Center of South Orange County in San Clemente.

Carol Quintana, the center’s activities director, said the seniors now “plan their Mondays around him.”

“They get so perked up by the music,” she said. “They just cannot sit still.”

As Chase’s bow slices across the strings, the seniors dance to tunes like “Red Hot Mamma,” “Barney Google” and “Turkey in the Straw.”

The smiles and chuckles on the seniors’ faces testify to the nostalgia washing over the room.

“These songs are a reminder of their youth,” Chase said. “It brings them back to a time when they were active. That’s why this music helps to enliven them.”

Jean Cyfer, who moved to Beverly Manor from Leisure World in Laguna Hills after suffering a crippling back injury, said she looks forward to Chase’s concerts.

“He sure knows how to bring back the good old days with his songs,” said Cyfer, 83. “We feel so good. It makes me think about the times when I could walk and dance.”