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Caring Through Time

By Alexander Germanis
t has been said that the best gift one can give is the gift of time. This is becoming more and more true as we are hurried from place to place always in a state of flux our identities becoming little more than a series of numbers in an electronic database. All it takes in order to reset that, however, is an expenditure of someones time. Caring through time can make all the difference between making someone feel like a number and helping someone feel like a person. 16 years ago this September two men had just such a thought when they began to organize what would become Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine Services. From Dream to Reality Educated in physical therapy at Chicago Medical and Washington University in St. Louis respectively, Chris Byers, PT, and Mike Salaway, MS, PT, had what may seem like a simple idea, but one that is nonetheless becoming increasingly less realized throughout the health care community as a whole. Our idea was to have a physical therapy company in which we spent a lot of time with patients, Chris explains. We also wanted a place where therapists really liked to work, so there was an appreciation for doing a good job and getting patients better. We really started thinking that if we could accomplish those two things, we could have a successful company. When they first started out with the help of a mutual business associate in 1997, success didnt fall right into their laps. In the beginning, anything you could do in the physical therapy world we were doing it: nursing home contracts, home health, Chris recalls. When we started the Kewanee clinic in March of 1998, that got us in the outpatient world got us started

Co-owners and Physical Therapists Mike Salaway and Chris Byers.

down that track. Thats what we wanted to do. From there onward Chris and Mike opened up or contractually partnered with seven more clinics in Aledo, Bloomington, Canton, Clinton, Galesburg, Macomb, and Monmouth. Small Town Origins The fact that most of the clinics reside in smaller towns across the rural belt of Illinois is no coincidence. Both men have their origins in small communities, and those origins are what led them to, and continue them on, their professional paths. I grew up on a farm, Chris says, and had done some observation and rode around with a local large animal vet. I went to school thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian. Chriss personal involvement

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Coordinator for Advanced Rehab, Angela Holloway, explains one of the key ways in which they do that. Trainers from most of our clinics to the west go to different football teams they go out and cover athletics in different schools. Because most small schools cant afford that kind of care, we give them access to specialized services essentially for nothing, Mike continues, because it was something we didnt have when we went to school. A Path of Dignity I came from a corporate PT environment, Mike relates. When I started with the company I was working for, we had five clinics, and when I left we had 350. I ran the largest one they had. Along with an athletic trainer and an aide, I treated 60 people a day and still ran our clinic. I felt we could develop a model that could provide a better quality of patient care. That rather typical physical therapy environment is precisely what Mike and Chris wanted to get away from when they started Advanced Rehab, not as much for their own sakes as for the sake of their patients and employees. We work in a high-demand field where its extremely difficult to recruit, Mike says. Where you dont have high population densities, trying to recruit and retain employees was always going to be a problem. Employee-incentive programs seemed one way to solve that problem, Chris explains. We wanted our therapists

Clinic manager Don Willard works on patient flexibility.

with sports directed him toward a different destiny though. I did a lot of athletics in high school, had a knee injury and had multiple surgeries two within a year on the same knee. In the process of having therapy, I thought Id like to do that instead. I got to experience therapy by having the need to do it. Through that process I decided that was a better path for me. A three-sport athlete in high school, Mike also had his share of sports rehabilitation, specifically as he continued to play football in college. But it wasnt his experience with rehab that lured him to the profession; his initial interests were quite different. I initially went to college at the University of Illinois to become a chemical engineer, but decided that wasnt for me, Mike says. I left and went to Monmouth and thought I would do something medical but didnt know what. A family friend was the physical therapist in town, and the head of the biology department said what a wonderful field that was going to be to go into. I got into it that way. So, my interest was a little more profession-based. Memories of those small town beginnings remain with Mike and Chris, specifically the memories of dealing with sports-related injuries. When we were in school, you didnt have therapy unless you had surgery, Chris says. We never even had an athletic trainer, Mike adds. And in college we had one that came only one time a week. For that reason, Chris and Mike endeavored to give big city physical therapy access to the small towns of their youth. Regional Marketing

Lyndi Hicke, Physical therapy assistant, instructs patient in self-stretching technique.

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Hands on therapy is the standard at Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine.

rewarded for doing a good job. We wanted to have a place where they had some ownership in the company where hard work was rewarded. Weaving that perfect mesh of well-treated employees and welltreated patients has been the core of Advanced Rehab from the outset. Mike explains the resultant fiduciary conundrum hes had to struggle with as the president of operations, How can we afford to be as kind to our employees as we can and get as much one-on-one time with our patients as we can and still have the money work out? Chris and I didnt start this to get rich. We could see 50 percent more patients a day than we do now and cut the payroll by a third. But we have chosen a different path. Part of that path is recognizing an inherent problem in the medical care community. There are jobs out there that just arent conducive to trying to access health care during normal working hours, Chris points out. [Thats why] almost all of our clinics will accommodate outside the normal eight-to-five hours, Mike adds. Chris exemplifies that ethic in his actions. As president of marketing and public relations, he is afforded a little time to see patients. I still have patients that Ive known a long time here in Bloomington that I still see if something happens to them, he says. And I pick up those odd-hour patients. I dont mind that. We have people that will come in at six oclock in the morning for treatment. And he likes to get up at five in the morning, Mike interjects jovially. Chris shrugs, Im up anyway. I had to do it for 15 years at home to take care of animals. To take care of humans is a little more dignified, he laughs good-naturedly. Walking the Walk Promoting the work that Advanced Rehab does is what makes up Angelas job, but its much more than just a job to her. Her
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previous workplace had not embodied the philosophy with which she and Chris and Mike feel themselves aligned. I really like people and the job I had was starting to make me jaded, she explains. At Advanced I found something that would allow me to do sales and public relations involving health and wellness. Its nice to sell a product that helps people, and what were selling is wellness. Mike adds, Were not a maintenance program. If someone has to keep coming back to us and rely on us to stay well then were not fixing whats wrong. If you had something wrong with your car and you had to keep taking it back once a month so they could fix the same problem then youll eventually realize theyre not fixing it. We dont want to treat those same ailments again. We want our patients to stay fixed, Angela concludes. We like having no return customers. How we do things is different. The difference is the level of caring. We work very hard at making sure that when somebody walks in here they get 40 minutes of solid attention about their problem and about how its affecting them in life. [Two of the] things that get lost in our society: general caring and taking the time to listen to people, Chris points out. I hope the thing that makes us different if you ask our patients is that they feel well cared for. If you feel well cared for, thats half the battle. Were going to do everything in our power to get them better.

You may contact Advanced Rehab & Sports Medicine at 309-664-9104 or www.advrehab.com. Their office is located at 135 N. Williamsburg Dr. in Bloomington. Free assessments are offered within 24 hours of contact for patients of all ages.