Physical therapy team at Gainesville Clinic offers new fitness program

The physical therapy professionals at Ozarks Healthcare's Gainesville Clinic are offering a new exercise and fitness-coaching program that allows clients to develop an individualized exercise program that they can practice at the clinic's PT department anytime the clinic is open (7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday).

A second option is directed at participants in the OZH program who also belong to Gainesville's Top Dog Fitness Center. If they prefer to use the equipment at Top Dog, the OZH physical therapy team will create a personalized program for them at Top Dog, which is located at 725 Harlin Drive, just north of Third Street. Top Dog is accessible to members 24/7. 

The new OZH program costs a flat $20 per week or $60 per month, which includes setting up the personalized plan and then gives the program participant access to the PT room in the Gainesville Clinic. No contract is required. For more information, call the physical therapy department at the OZH Gainesville Clinic, 417-679-4613.

The second option lets participants who belong to Top Dog pay the OZH team a single $20 one-week fee to set up an exercise program on the Top Dog equipment and then continue following that plan on their own at Top Dog until they’re ready to pay another $20 fee and work with the PT team to set up a new workout plan.

Top Dog memberships range from $25 to $35 per month, or $20 for students, and a contract is required. The gym honors the Silver Sneakers and Renew Active programs. Call owners Paula Rose at 417-989-1282 or Karen Brantingham at 417-683-7621 for more information.

‘We make it fun’

Michael Tobler, the physical therapist at the OZH Gainesville Clinic, said he and PT assistants James Glover and Jonathan Dillinger enjoy helping area residents accomplish their exercise and fitness goals.

“We can dissect any activity the person wants to do and break it down into exercises that will enable them to keep doing what they love,” Tobler said. “We make up exercises to match what they want to be able to do, and we make it fun.”

As an example, he said, one step in an exercise program for someone who wants to get back to, or continue, riding horses might be repeatedly lifting a 20-pound weight ball and dropping it over a bar on the weight rack. The exercise would strengthen the muscles needed to lift a saddle onto a horse’s back, he said.

Clients tell the therapist what movements or actions they want to be able to do (or continue doing), and the team devises an exercise plan to enable the clients to do them. Another example Tobler gave was a client who wanted to continue to be able to cut firewood without pain.  

Other clients simply want to add more physical exercise and general fitness to their daily lives. Programs can focus on such components as strength, balance and specific functions. And as one goal is accomplished, a new program can be developed for the client’s next goal. 

Fitness members who choose to exercise at the Gainesville clinic work out in the same room where the PT team members are working with patients who come in for physical therapy. So, while the fitness members work through their program’s exercises on their own, the PT pros can offer suggestions and corrections if needed.

When physical therapy’s needed

During the initial assessment, or later, the PT team members sometimes notice a problem that might need specific physical therapies rather than routine exercises. The PT pros then advise the person to see a physician, who can refer them back to the therapists for treatment. 

Many physician-referred physical therapy treatment plans are covered by most commercial insurance plans, Medicare or Medicaid. But Missouri law also allows patients to see physical therapists without a physician’s referral; those visits, however, may not be covered by insurance and must be paid by the patient. Patients may also opt to continue physical therapy on a self-pay basis after insurance coverage expires. 

Among the OZH Clinic’s PT team’s clients are former Ozark County Presiding Commissioner John Turner, who has benefited from the team’s expertise in recovering from two knee replacements, and Gainesville resident Linda Harlin, who has sought the team’s help for a condition that causes back pain. Her treatment includes therapy for her back and hip-strengthening exercises plus dry-needle therapy.