The Zoom connection was spotty.
“So you said you’re from the Twin Cities? I love Minneapolis,” I stated.
“Not Minneapolis,” she said. “Leopolis!”
Wait, what?
“And now I live in Pella.”
After the reconnect, I had Sally Egan of Advanced Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine (APTSM) begin anew.
“As an onsite provider at three companies and a municipality in Northeastern Wisconsin, it’s my job to help create and maintain healthy environments for employees,” said Egan. “And the best way to do that is to provide quick access to quality care.”
Egan is a veteran of APTSM’s industrial rehabilitation team, a group of licensed athletic trainers and physical therapists dedicated to keeping employees healthy, safe, and on the job. Like many of her colleagues from the athletic training world, she began her career in the high school setting, as the athletic trainer at nearby Shawano High School (about 15 minutes away from what she refers to as the “Twin Cities”) for nearly a dozen years.
She stresses the similarities between the two environments.
“What we do as industrial athletic trainers is bring the sports medicine model of immediate, consistent care to the workplace,” said Egan. “And we do this at no cost to the employee.”
Which is so important to her clients, everyday people who are just trying to make a living and put food on the table.
Egan understands that concept well.
“I grew up in this area on a very small dairy farm. I know what it's like for a family to live paycheck to paycheck and not able to get healthcare when you really should, because you just can't afford it,” said Egan. “So being able to provide that service—literally in my hometown—is just an amazing opportunity for me.”
Interesting that she and her chiropractor brother (“two tiny farm kids”) both pursued careers in health care. It makes complete sense, though, as she describes it as a simple transition from fixing tractors or boards on a wall to fixing people.
The similarities don’t end there, as Egan quickly points out.
“You have to be adaptable and inventive because you don't usually have the resources. That's what onsite rehab is. You don't have a lot of equipment, so you have to work with what you have,” she said.
The companies and organizations she works with rely on Egan to deliver services known as “rapid response,” where direct access to care means employees will be seen in 24-48 hours for an evaluation. That kind of quick care creates the opportunity for an improved healing timeframe, as the onsite provider can swiftly address and manage issues that, if left untreated, could become a recordable injury.
“We can prevent that from occurring,” said Egan. “So you’re keeping the employee healthy and keeping them at their job, and you’re saving the employer money by reducing direct and indirect costs that result from such an injury.”
Again, she leans on her sports medicine background.
“One domain of athletic training is about reactive and emergency care, which in industry is rapid response and OSHA first aid. So we're there for that assessment, and occasionally wound care and emergency care,” said Egan. “For injuries, we’re able to assess and make appropriate decisions if this is something that you can rehab or treat, or make that decision for a proper referral and guide them to where they should go for the best quality and line of care.”
Developing a relationship and a rapport with her employees is crucial.
“Well, it’s on me to get out on the floor and make connections,” said Egan. “You need to show them that you're there to know them as a person, not just a patient.
Forming such bonds requires a level of trust, something Egan says comes naturally when employees get treated right away and feel better. Whether it’s Egan making the rounds on a factory floor or working with a patient who scheduled an appointment in a (usually) small treatment room, the brief interactions are the sources of the best kind of marketing there is word of mouth.
“One employee will say, ‘Sally has done great things for my shoulder. Go see if she can help you.’ And that keeps my days full,” said Egan.
Egan highlights additional services she can provide if companies so choose. One company, for instance, wanted to offer their office personnel some strategies to improve general wellness. So, every week at the scheduled time, staff members stop what they are doing, grab a chair, and join Egan at the center of the office, where she leads them in fifteen minutes of stretching and body mechanics.
“It’s just a special need that the company felt strongly about, and we can do those types of things,” said Egan. “We individualize services based on the company. I meet with HR every single week at my companies just to keep the lines of communication open. We’re there to prevent health issues as much as possible, so that kind of collaboration ensures their needs are being met.”
The stability of the Wi-Fi connection notwithstanding, someone needed to get going. Technically her “day off,” Egan was headed to a side gig, teaching chair yoga to retired adults. But she wanted me to know she hadn’t looked at list of questions I had sent her prior to the interview.
“I wasn’t going to prep for this. Because what works in this field is that we're ourselves. We're not scripted. You get the real me,” said Egan.
The small-town country girl paused, and before signing off acknowledged one final similarity between her job as an industrial rehabilitation specialist and her work with high school athletes in a previous life.
“We’re in healthcare for a reason, and that’s to help people. I get to make those personal connections with industry clients just like I did in sports medicine. And the best part is when I get somebody that comes in and says, ‘Thank you so much for helping me. I feel so much better, and I didn't know if I was ever going to feel better.’
“That’s the best part of my job.”
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