Therapeutic Associates and the Northwest’s Premier Cross Country Skiers

Based in Bend, Oregon, the non-profit XC Oregon cross country ski race team is one of a handful of elite development programs for U.S. skiers working toward future berths on U.S. World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic teams. Therapeutic Associates’ Central Oregon clinics in Bend work with these athletes on many levels. I recently connected with JD Downing, XC Oregon Coach and Founder, to find out more about his organization and its connection to our company.

What is XC Oregon?

Featuring up to two dozen young adults (typical XC Oregon athletes are 19-35 years old), an average racing year sees XC Oregon skiers collectively register in over 200 races with over 50 “podium” (top three) finishes in events as diverse as local Northwest ski area races, to the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, to the biggest ski marathons in the world. The diversity of races is matched by the diverse lives of the XC Oregon athletes as the race team features a roster ranging from full-time professional skiers to young parents, school teachers, computer programmers (and more) — who also happen to be very good cross country skiers!

XC Oregon and TAI

For the past five years, Therapeutic Associates has been a proud major sponsor of XC Oregon helping athletes not only with financial support but also providing regular clinic treatment throughout each training year.

Although acute injuries in cross country skiing are far less common than with alpine skiing or snowboarding, with elite athletes training up to 700-800 hours a year (over 15 hours a week on average!), a wide range of chronic problems can develop that are unlike the kinds of typical injuries Therapeutic Associates sees in folks that may never put on a pair of skis in their life.

“Our athletes are training year-round to be some of the best athletes on the planet,” says J.D. Downing, XC Oregon Coach and Founder. “With the level of their training it’s not unusual to see problems develop with lower backs, muscle/flexibility imbalances, joint issues, and other problems. Having our local TAI Central Oregon clinics available to treat our athletes is quite honestly one of the biggest reasons our athletes have the performance track record they have over the past several years.”

XC Oregon and the Community

Beyond the ski race trails, the XC Oregon team has demonstrated a clear commitment to their local and regional community since its inception in 1998. The team athletes and Coach Downing annually devote hundreds of volunteer hours each year to community projects and programs. Whether it is helping with local youth athletic programs or raising funds for local homeless shelters — XC Oregon shares the Therapeutic Associates belief in always being an active and giving partner in your community.

For more information about the XC Oregon race team please visit www.xcoregon.org.

Physical Therapist among “Best Careers for 2009″

Nowadays it’s nearly impossible to turn on the radio or TV or any internet search engine without being overwhelmed with messages about the troubled economy. Admittedly it’s a scary time for all of us and, for the baby boom generation and younger, the first time ever in our lives that we’re dealing with an economic meltdown of this magnitude.

And yet, I was inspired by this recent post by R Scott Ward, PT, PhD, for APTA’s blog Moving Forward. It cites a recent US News and World Report article that names ‘Physical Therapist’ one of the best careers of 2009. Not only is healthcare in general seen as a more “recession proof” industry, but the article specifically sites extremely high job satisfaction and patient results for physical therapists. While there are certainly no guarantees that PTs will manage these tough times without any challenges, it does bode well for all of us in the profession as we navigate our way through what will definitely be an interesting year.

In his article, Ward goes on to mention the APTA’s recent campaign “This is Why”, which profiles therapists and what brought them to the profession. TAI started a similar campaign about our Key People this past fall and will build upon it in the months ahead. Enjoy reading these awesome stories about some truly incredible people. While the economy may be a concern for these clinicians, it is clear that all of them are are focused on one bottom line…to help people.

Physical Therapists Make U.S. News “Best Career” List for 2009

Posted by R Scott Ward, PT, PhD on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at APTA’s blog, Moving Forward

Despite the glum economic and employment forecasts we continue to hear about every day, the outlook is bright for physical therapists, according to U.S. News & World Report’s list of the 30 best careers for 2009. In addition to high job satisfaction and the growing number of active and aging baby boomers needing treatment, one of the reasons stated in the article for the high ranking is that “you usually see real progress.” The article continues, “For example, it’s touching to see a patient, who came in on a stretcher or in a wheelchair, walk out at the end of treatment.” The recognition in U.S. News is the latest in a growing list of media organizations recommending the physical therapy profession to prospective students.

I read about the U.S. News ranking just before picking up my latest issue of PT Magazine and turning to the monthly “This is Why” column, which spotlights a particular moment or incident that propelled the writer toward a career in physical therapy. Ask most physical therapists and physical therapist assistants today why they’ve entered the profession, and their answers are likely similar.

Preventative Medicine in the Workplace

Now more than ever, there seems to be a great deal of buzz about preventative medicine programs. Health care was, again, a major piece of both party platforms during our recent elections and I have heard President-Elect Obama speak about the importance of preventative programs. No doubt, more and more employers will turn to prevention to save on cost and maintain efficiency. While TAI’s primary service is outpatient, ortho PT via our private practice clinics, we have several specialty and wellness programs that go beyond traditional PT services to meet the needs of our communities. I’ll get into several of these in future posts, but today I want to share more on one of them that directly affects employers and extends beyond our clinic walls…

What is Work Kinetics?
Work Kinetics is a workplace-focused program that has been in place at TAI for 5 years. It provides employers with injury prevention/management, wellness programs and ergonomics services that not only create healthier and more productive work environments, but also reduce the direct and indirect costs associated with workers’ compensation and group healthcare premiums. Our Work Kinetics therapists have extensive experience in this area. They treat employees with traditional PT and OT but – and perhaps more importantly – they go to the work environments and provide on-site Physical Testing, Therapeutic Interventions, Consultation, and more.

Work Kinetics Products
Work Kinetics has also developed products to support their on-site programs. Therapeutic Associates Online Enterprise Safety (OES) is offered in partnership with Remedy Interactive, as well as RSIGuard software. It is a web-based product that provides injury prevention education, ergonomic risk assessment, and self-correction of injury risk factors for workers in various environments. Back Basics is an educational video created by Therapeutic Associates Physical and Occupational therapists, designed to improve manual material handling safety and reduce back injuries in the work place; be it office or industrial environments. This DVD guides users through customized training sessions taught by Physical Therapists.  OES and Back Basics are forward-thinking, cost effective, and comprehensive tools for employers to maintain healthy work environments and prevent injuries.

Jennifer Rappaport, MOTR/L

Meet the OT at the Forefront
Jennifer Rappaport, MOTR/L, is Director of Work Kinetics. She earned her Master’s in Occupational Therapy with an emphasis in Preventative Care in 2007. Interestingly enough, she holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature and spent time teaching, traveling and working as an Eco-tour guide before attending graduate school. Jennifer has worked with a variety of clients, including high-tech manufacturing, industrial/commercial construction, and office environments. She started working for TAI in 2007 and is based in Portland, OR.

To learn more about Work Kinetics, visit our website.

History of TAI

I recently revisited the history of Therapeutic Associates for a project I was working on and was again struck by the awesome 56-year longevity of our company and legacy of our founders. Our roots are truly at the foundation of private practice PT in this country and our core structure and principles have remained the same after all these years. I thought it would be fun to share the following summary with all of you. Enjoy!

History of Therapeutic Associates, Inc.

The roots of TAI date back to the early 1950s and the beginnings of private practice physical therapy in the United States. Company founder Jim McKillip, PT, graduated from Stanford University in 1950 and began his career as a staff therapist at the University of Oregon Hospital and Clinics in Portland, Oregon. Later that year, Jim serendipitously met with Sister Genevieve, the Mother Superior and Administrator of St. Vincent Hospital in Portland – a connection that would later prove fruitful to the development of Jim’s vision and the company’s growth. In 1952, Jim moved to southern California and opened his first private practice clinic. It was a bold move at the time, for there was no precedent for this kind of operation and even the act of obtaining a business license proved challenging. Driven by his goal to see private practice physical therapy thrive, Jim persevered with his business and later that same year met Robert (Bob) Dicus, a fellow PT who shared his drive and entrepreneurial spirit. The two men joined forces to create Department of Physical Medicine (DPM), the business that would eventually become Therapeutic Associates, Inc.

While the company’s structure has always been based on independent, private practice clinics, its early growth was driven by several hospital contracts. Through the Sister Genevieve connection, Jim and Bob engaged in contracts at Providence St Joseph in Burbank, CA (an arrangement that TAI still maintains to this day), St Vincent Hospital in Portland, and Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, CA, among others. Key players in TAI’s early history – including therapists Warner Owens, Bert McCurdy and Bob Gifford – were hired at this time to assist with these contracts.

In 1964, Flanders Physical Therapy (now known as TAI-Northwest Portland Physical Therapy) opened under the direction of Dan Jones. This was the first of the company’s private practices outside of California and started what later became booming growth in the Pacific Northwest. The 1960s also brought the development of APTA’s Private Practice Section (PPS; originally called the “Self Employment Section”), thanks to the dedication and motivation of Bob Dicus, who helped create the section and acted as its first Chairperson. DPM was originally solely owned by Jim and Bob, but growth and a combination of other factors encouraged them to expand the group and Bert, Dan, Bob, and Warner were among the early partners. The biography of J.C. Penny, “The Man with a Thousand Partners”, was an early inspiration for the concept of shared ownership and helped to develop the Key Person model that TAI maintains to this day. Unfortunately, the 1960s also brought heartbreak, as Bob was diagnosed with ALS, a disability that gradually took him out of practice and the business and eventually took his life. His vision and legacy remain significant to TAI and PPS.

In the 1970s and 1980s, expansion led to several new clinics in the Pacific Northwest, including West Seattle Physical Therapy, our first Washington clinic which was started by Steve Anderson, PT. In these two decades, several of our current Shareholders were hired as Staff Therapists and moved onto become Key People and many clinics opened in the Portland, Seattle, Albany, Salem, and Bend areas. The hospital division of the company also continued to expand during these years. In the 1990s, Warner Owens took over from Jim McKillip as CEO of the company. A new hospital contract – with the Motion Picture Television Fund in southern CA – was started, with Kim Archer (daughter of Jim McKillip) leading the way. Also at this time, Rich Katz was instrumental in starting the independent practice association we now know as Northwest Rehab Alliance and some of our company’s products, including the now-named CareConnections package, were developed.

The later 1990s saw the creation of TAI’s Central Billing Office in Portland, the move of the Administrative office to its current location in Seattle, and, in 1998, the naming of Steve Anderson as CEO and Dennis Powers as President. The 2000s have seen continued growth of the company, in terms of number of clinics (we now have over 65 facilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California), staffing (administrative and clinical), programming (Orthopaedic Residency Training Program started in 2007, e.g.), and offerings (as several of our clinics have developed unique specialty programs utilizing traditional PT methods, as well as concepts of preventative medicine and wellness approaches).