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Profile 2013
Chase Higgins, physical therapy assistant, works on a patient at Tri-State Rehab Services on South Third Street in Ironton. THE TRIBUNE/JESSICA ST JAMES
Getting physical Business growth has been enjoyable journey for Ironton man
By Jim Walker | The Tribune
P
aul McCartney didn’t have Joe Isaac in mind when he wrote “The Long And Winding Road,” but it has certainly been that type of a journey for the Ironton physical therapist. The road began innocently while he was a high school football player. An offensive guard and All-Ohio linebacker for the St. Joseph Flyers, Isaac sustained a shoulder injury and had to undergo treatment. “That sparked my interest in the profession,” Isaac said of the first step on his journey. “I didn’t realize there were specialized services like that.” The natural progression for Isaac was attending college and obtaining a degree in physical therapy. He did some volunteer work initially at college
and hospitals in the Ironton area. “After working in the field, I knew this is what I wanted to do,” Isaac said. After obtaining his degree from Ohio State in 1994, Isaac took a job at a local hospital. But the road he was on was merely a back road for him. He wanted to make his way to the open highway and travel in a different direction. “In the back of my mind, I wanted to open up my own practice. I wanted to go into business for myself,” Isaac said. Most of the patients Isaac was treating were from the Ironton area. Since there was no physical therapy facility in Ironton, Isaac got with a co-worker and friend, Paul Castle, and the pair decided to move toward establishing their own business “since there was a need and it was home.” First, the duo took a job with a home health care firm. Isaac said they took any assignment, no matter how far
away and regardless of the number of patients in the area. They were quite literally traveling a long and winding road of their own. “We told them we would go wherever you want us to go,” said Isaac with a grin. “We went to Williamson (W.Va.), Fort Gay (W.Va.), Inez (Ky.) to see one patient. There were times we lost money on the visit. But we picked up enough home health to start our first office on Park Avenue.” Ironton Physical Therapy opened with basic nautilus equipment and limited parking. Because of a good working relationship with local doctors and the need for local health care, the business began to take hold. “The people of Ironton and surrounding areas were very receptive to someone trying to start a local business and gracious to let us provide a service,” said Isaac. “Word of mouth
spread that we did good work and we began to grow.” The road began to branch off in other directions. Because of Isaac’s affinity toward athletics, he wanted to expand to the treatment of sports injuries. It wasn’t long after that decision Isaac hired another Ironton native and former linebacker, Dave Coburn, who was a not only a physical therapist but an athletic trainer. “With Dave on board, we approached Ironton High School. Coach (Bob) Lutz and coach (Mike) Burcham were very supportive of the idea of providing athletic treatment for injuries,” said Isaac. “Being local guys gave us an opportunity to work with their program.” That was in 1999 and soon the business approached other schools. Coal Grove was next on their list and several other schools have since followed.