WELLNESS
HARLEM COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS
Physical Therapy of Harlem Offers a Space for Healing Amidst COVID
F
Marisol Rodríguez
or almost a decade Dr. Jeffrey Chow has been treating patients at Physical Therapy of Harlem on 116th Street and Madison Avenue. After being forced to close during the surge of COVID cases in New York City, Dr. Chow reopened in early May. While COVID may have closed his offices, it didn’t stop him from continuing to work with a couple of willing patients who he had sessions with through Telehealth or virtual appointments. One of his patients did so well with it that when she came in person after the reopening her pain was already gone. But the majority of Dr. Chow’s patients opted out of Telehealth and waited until they could see him in person. One such patient, Maria Escobar, has been working with Dr. Chow for the past three years. After some unpleasant experiences with physical therapists at other locations, Escobar has been so happy with Dr. Chow’s service, she stuck with him and has referred many of her friends and family. “One thing I love about him is anything that you ask him he takes his time and he looks it up for
Dr. Chow working with his patient Maria Escobar. you,” said Escobar. “Doctors need to listen to their patients at this time more than ever, especially when many have lost loved ones.” Dr. Chow and Dr. Selena Washington, the other physical therapist at the office, are currently taking appointments from 8:00am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday. Everyone at the office has been trained in how to clean spaces using high quality disinfectants. The common area or gym has been visibly divided with blue tape into six-feet boxes to maintain social distancing. Dr. Chow encourages anyone with concerns to come by the office. “If you are worried, you
Dr. Chow leaning on one of the anti-gravity treadmills at the clinic.
don’t have to schedule your visit, just show up and ask away,” he said. One of the reasons Physical Therapy of Harlem initially opened was to provide much needed high quality physical therapy services uptown. This is seen in the private consultation rooms they offer as well as state of the art equipment and tools such as anti-gravity treadmills for those with severe ankle and knee injuries and IASTM (Instrument Aided Soft Tissue Manipulation) which helps to stretch and relax chronically tight muscles. Dr. Chow also believes in ca-
Physical Therapy of Harlem is now open 8:30am-3:00pm, Monday through Friday.
tering physical therapy to individuals. “Each patient needs a slight change to their protocol. If you just cookie cutter everyone 70 percent might get better, but many of your patients won’t.” said Dr. Chow. Having grown up playing competitive sports, Dr. Chow was in and out of rehab with various athletic trainers and physical therapists. When he was in college the idea of helping athletes like himself recover from injury started to appeal to him. “Having gone through therapy with bad and good trainers, I wanted to be a good physical therapist and help people get better,” he said.
The common space/gym has been divided into 6 feet sections for social distancing.
Dr. Chow is a proud husband and father of two boys, 3 and 7 years old. He grew up in New Jersey, which he described as having a small town vibe he feel strongly associates with the Harlem community: “I really like being up here, it’s a very community-based area...I grew up with that feeling in New Jersey, if you got in trouble your mom or parents would find out before you even got home. It’s a nice feeling of the community here and I really think that’s a great thing.” If you would like to make an appointment at Physical Therapy of Harlem call 212-996-3303 and
Maria Escobar has been working with Dr. Chow for three years. visit www.PTHarlem.com or Fyzical.com/East-Harlem. The clinic will soon change its name as it joins the network Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers.
Harlem Community Newspapers | July 30. 2020 13
