THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406010093
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: E08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: Long
His job involved passing tickets back and forth all day and lifting hefty pieces of luggage across a counter. Weak and riddled with neck pain, Jeffries couldn't pick up more than five pounds at a time. Trying to lift a 93-pound box, which is how he got injured in the first place, was out of the question.
{REST} Yet, despite the odds against it, on June 8 the 44-year-old Virginia Beach man plans to return to the ticket counter at Norfolk International Airport to begin anew his old job: processing passengers and their luggage for upcoming flights.
After weeks of ``work hardening'' therapy, his doctors say he's ready.
``I'm in the best condition I've been in the last 15 years,'' said Jeffries, who admits he was ``terribly out of shape'' before his injury. ``I never thought I'd go back to work.''
Jeffries credits therapists at the Sports Therapy and Industrial Medicine Center (STIM) at Norfolk State University for his ``amazing'' rehabilitation.
In a renovated warehouse located in the school's James A. Bowser Industrial Education Building, Jeffries spent two 40-hour weeks reconditioning his body. A large part of his therapy was to simulate the movements of his job.
``It was hell at first,'' Jeffries admitted. ``They work you hard. They're very stern there. . . but very compassionate,'' he said. ``When I went in there I was hurting. But I'm 100 percent better now. I have a lot more endurance, too, thanks to all the time I spent on those exercise machines. That center is the best thing that ever happened to me.''
Created last October, The STIM center is an unusual partnership between the university's Exercise Science Laboratories and a private for-profit management group, called The Therapy Network.
The arrangement is ``pretty exciting stuff,'' admits Michael L. Woodhouse, the NSU professor who oversees the program.
Prior to the partnership, the university had put together a physical therapy facility stocked with dozens of pieces of high-tech physical therapy equipment, acquired with funds from grants.
The facility, which also included a warehouse and loading dock used to simulate a wide range of industrial work environments, was used to train about 200 students working toward bachelor's degrees and advanced training in exercise sciences. As a way to offer them practical experience, Woodhouse began seeing patients from the community needed outpatient therapy.
As the facility's only certified therapist, as well as director of the academic program, Woodhouse soon realized he needed help. With the budget constraints facing educational institutions, hiring additional faculty was not an option. So Woodhouse put out feelers to private management groups interested in operating an outpatient facility, much like university bookstores and other services do.
The Therapy Network, which also runs centers in Ghent, Oceana and Chesapeake, was eager to join forces with the university. An agreement was hammered out last fall. Now, two therapists from the network and two interns work full time at the center. Several other employees were brought in for secretarial duties and accounting.
``It's wonderful for us,'' said Patty Healy-Osborne, director of physical therapy for the network at NSU. ``We didn't have to put a lot of money out front to get started. They already had this great facility. . . that we could come in and use. Where else in Tidewater can you find all this equipment and a place to simulate a patient's work environment so closely?''
At least a dozen patients, all referred by physicians, now visit the STIM center each day for therapy. Like Jeffries, many require a work hardening regimen after industrial accidents and injuries. Others, suffering from anything from a torn cartilage or other knee injury to whip lash or rheumatoid arthritis, need physical therapy.
Noted Woodhouse: ``We felt like we wanted to offer a broader clinical experience for our students. And with all the patients now coming in, we're able to do that.''
In the agreement, 25 percent of the revenue collected by the network for administering patient therapy goes back to the university. For now, the money is being funneled back to the exercise sciences program, Woodhouse said.
According to Healy-Osborne, the network expects to generate $200,000 in revenue from its first year of operation at NSU, double what the group initially anticipated.
The center's initial success is owed in part to its strong focus on getting patients back to work in some sort of capacity, said Healy-Osborne. So far, the center has an 80 percent rate of returning patients to some sort of related work, although not all return to exactly the same position or employer they left, she said.
For patients like Jeffries, the chance to get back to his old life has been ``miraculous.''
``I've got a second chance thanks to the people at the center,'' he said. ``I'm very grateful.''
by CNB