Waukesha Employee Health and Wellness Center Comes to the Rescue of Local Firefighter
When your job requires both mental and physical strength, a serious physical injury can be devastating. When nine-year City of Waukesha Fire Department veteran Ryan Dion suffered an off-duty MCL sprain in his knee, he knew he needed to seek treatment to return to work.
“I had a list of physical therapists to contact,” notes Dion, but he soon learned that the earliest appointment for physical therapy was nine days away. That wasn’t good enough. “I knew I wanted to start therapy right away,” he says.
While driving home, he recalled reading about the City of Waukesha’s onsite health center’s physical therapy services. He called on Monday and had an appointment Tuesday morning with Physical Therapist Kaylah King. Less than 24 hours after calling, Dion set to work to rehabilitate his injury.
“My time at the health center was an A+ experience.”
What began as basic movements and massage therapy to get the muscles moving again evolved into a series of increasingly intense exercises. At his last appointment, Dion recalls completing squats using a resistance band. “The workouts were great,” he says. “Kaylah was pleasant, focused, and always forthcoming with her assessments.”
Thanks to Kaylah’s expertise, Dion’s knee was soon strong enough to return to work. The only thing left to complete his recovery was clearance from his doctor. Dion explains that traditionally, therapy would involve driving across town multiple times, first for therapy and then back to his primary care to get clearance. But since therapy with Kaylah was right down the hall from the onsite clinician, he was able to get clearance thirty minutes after his last therapy appointment. “Once Kaylah and I were done, we just walked over to the doctor and explained how therapy had gone.”
Within less than a month of the injury, Dion was cleared to return to work and serve his community.
“Overall, my time at the health center was an A+ experience,” he says. “I’ll definitely be using the onsite clinic again.”