Healing at HealthPlex

Full-service therapy available in Sulphur Springs.

Anna Crowe, 67, was crossing the street near the Sulphur Springs post office in November 2005 when she was hit by a car. "My left leg popped like a gun," she says. The impact sent her airborne, and her left arm and side hit the windshield.

Doctors told her family she was close to death, but she pulled through, only to be told she would never walk again and might lose the use of her hand. After a grueling month of hospitalization and surgery, she started rehab at HealthPlex at Memorial.

"They started with little baby steps—tiny things like how to dress myself and how to eat," Crowe says. After three weeks of inpatient rehab at the C.A.R.E. Unit at Memorial, she was ready to go home, though she was still bedridden. Therapists came to her house three times a week until May, when she was well enough to travel to HealthPlex, where she continued to rehab her arm and leg.

Her leg was slow to heal, and she was stuck in a wheelchair until the bone was strong enough to support her weight. But a year after her accident, she progressed from standing to a walker to a cane. Now she says she doesn't need any assistance walking, though she still limps a bit.

She's finished with the formal rehab program, but still exercises at HealthPlex twice a week, walking on the treadmill or joining a water aerobics class.

Crowe took advantage of many of the therapies available at HealthPlex. "We're a full-service therapy clinic," explains Jeff Sant, director. The center offers:

• adult and pediatric physical therapy, occupational therapy and hand therapy
• orthopaedic rehab
• aquatic therapy
• a balance program
• speech therapy for all age groups
• treatment for swallowing disorders

"To receive formal therapy you need a prescription, so if you feel you need any of these services, talk to your doctor," Sant says. He notes that a prescription for therapy can be filled at any location, just as a prescription for medication can be filled at any pharmacy. "People have a choice, and we have everything right here in town," Sant says.

By Stephanie Thurrott