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newlenoxpatriot.com life & arts
the new lenox patriot | May 16, 2019 | 29
Joint Pro’s small staff makes treatment more personal for patients
Sean Hastings, Editor
Not just anyone can
be a physical therapist at
Joint Pro in New Lenox,
1405 East Lincoln Highway.
From the top down,
everyone shares the same
values, which is to treat the
patient like family.
At Joint Pro, there are
three physical therapists
and when a patient comes
in, they get to know everyone
there.
Physical therapist assistant
Amanda Mitchell has
been at Joint Pro for about
two-and-a-half years and
the “team” and “family”
atmosphere were keys for
her when she was searching
for jobs, making Joint
Pro the perfect fit.
In searching for a job at
other places, she learned
that some of the bigger
chains made their therapists
see a certain amount
of people in a day.
“I thought ‘how in the
world am I supposed to
do this and actually have
quality interactions with
these people,’” she said.
“When I was interviewing
here, it was a long interview
process, but because
we are so small, we have
to click with everyone else
here too. It was so much
more patient-focused and
we just care so much about
the people here and every
person that walks through
the door matters.”
Being right out of
school, Mitchell wanted to
work under someone who
had lots of experience,
and that person is clinic
manager and orthopedic
clinical specialist, Michele
Deering.
Deering has 30 years
of experience and is a big
reason in why Joint Pro
operates the way it does
with the team and family
atmosphere. Joint Pro celebrated
its three-year anniversary
May 9 and she
has loved to see it grow the
way it has.
“Being a small private
practice, we’re all about
giving back to the community,”
she said.
Joint Pro is owned by
Josh Feigl, who also is a
physical therapist. Feigl
has been treating patients
in the Lincoln-Way area
for 15 years.
The way they like to
“give back” to the community
and treat them as family
is that they treat each
patient’s injury special to
them. Deering said there
is no “cook book” on how
they treat a certain injury.
The newest member of
the staff, Jen Brenczewski
spent her last 13 years at
a different company but
has already adapted to the
family style at Joint Pro.
“Therapy is expensive
and we know that,” she
said. “It’s your time, that’s
worth a lot. We really
want to make sure we’re
looking at you as a whole
and having the time to facilitate
a program that’s
tailored toward the individual
patient and not just
a cookie-cutter program.
We want your visit to be
more like an impact visit
every time you come here,
so changing it up, adding
a home program, making
sure you’re educated along
the way making sure you
know why you’re doing
what you’re doing.”
Brenczewski added that
the personal touch her and
the other therapists show
toward the patients makes
the patient feel like they
are being heard.
“I think that they can tell
that we are truly listening
and paying attention to
what it is that ails them and
what they need to do to be
better instead of just saying,
‘I think this program
The space inside Joint Pro is not large, but it really helps the staff keep it’s family atmosphere with themselves
and their patients. Sean Hastings/22ndCenturyMedia
is going to work because
it works for every knee,’”
she said. “We’re making
a program that works for
you as a person.”
And with the personal
touch and each patient getting
know each therapist, it
can give them more comfort
knowing that the therapist
they are seeing that
day already knows their
injury, how they’re progressing
and what is being
done to help it.
“We do everything as a
team,” Deering said. “Every
therapist here, knows
every single patient. It’s
great because you have
three therapist’s brains
working on the same case
all the time. As a patient
you may see me as the
primary therapist on your
case that day and maybe
another therapist the next
time you come in, but you
will always be taking to
use every time you’re here.
Every patient that comes
in, we treat them as part
of the family and they become
members of the Joint
Pro family.”
The three agreed that the
patients are not treated as
number in a list of patients
and Deering said the room
will never be too filled up.
Mitchell added that
while they are giving the
patient a personalized
treatment where they can
regularly see them, it becomes
rewarding for them
to see the patients progress.
And being a small practice,
Joint Pro does not do
any marketing, but rather
relies on the word of
mouth from their patients,
and it has worked well so
far.
“We had a guy that was
about 90 comeback and
say ‘I ran Boston 5K,’”
Mitchell said. “Almost
a year after we saw him
and that was amazing. He
invited us to his birthday
when he turned 90. It’s
just cool to see that, because
that’s a crazy situation,
because how many
90-year-olds are running
5K’s. I’ve had people ride
their bike by on the path
and say ‘hey look I’m
riding my bike, I’m doing
great.’ A lot of people
will refer to us and I think
that’s one of the highest
compliments, because
they’re trusting their
loved ones with our care.”
If someone is looking
for physical therapy, all
they need to do is call and
make an appointment and
they can be treated, since a
new law passed in Illinois
that says patients no longer
need an order from their
physician to go to physical
therapy, Deering said.
Joint Pro has a pediatric
therapist, Stacy Simanis,
and a men’s and women’s
health specialist, Lauren
Mansell.
Joint Pro also has another
location in Frankfort,
and while expanding may
be a typical goal for some
businesses, that is not the
case for Deering and her
team at Joint Pro.
“We’re here to serve the
greater Lincoln-Way community,”
she said. “We
don’t have aspirations of
moving throughout the
country. Our focus is on
providing the best quality
care possible for our community
and giving back to
the community as much as
we can.”
For more infomration,
visit jointpro.com.