Dear Stillwater community,
My name is Greg Bailen and I am the new clinic manager at our OSI Physical Therapy Stillwater location. I had the great opportunity to work and learn here when I first started after PT school and I am very excited to have the chance to return in this new role!
My personal background is that I grew up in the twin cities, went to Saint John’s University for my undergraduate work (Go Johnnies!) where I graduated with a psychology and pre-PT degree, I then completed my graduate work and earned my Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) at Mayo Clinic. While I was in graduate school I became certified in strength and conditioning (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and did some personal training work on the side in gym and home settings. After PT school I completed a 1 year manual therapy (hands-on stuff) certification (MTC). Finally, after completing school my wife and I moved to Stillwater and that is really when I first started to experience all that Stillwater has to offer and how friendly the people where, I just felt a sense of connectedness and family, more so than other cities I have lived in. This is another reason I am excited to return, to SERVE the people of Stillwater and surrounding communities. When I am not working I enjoy anything outdoors from fishing on the Saint Croix for Walleye and Muskies to hunting to camping or walking with our two dogs Siren and Boomer. My favorite indoor activity is sporting some green and gold and cheering on the Packers! More recently, we had the great privilege of welcoming our 6-month-old baby boy Jack Louis into this world which has been so great and I look forward to watching him grow.
Enough about me, I would like to talk more about our great support staff, athletic trainer and clinicians that we have here. I firmly believe that at OSI we have not only the best but also the most CARING staff. One of OSI’s core values that we believe in very strongly is FAMILY. We believe that everyone in our clinics should be treated like family from our staff to our clients. From the very first moment that our clients walk in the door they are always greeted with a smile and by name by our front desk staff, it really is like Cheers. When working with our clinicians, you will notice that they deeply care about you, we don’t just want to treat you as a condition we want to treat you as a person, getting you back to what YOU want to do.
Before I officially started I had the chance to meet with all the staff in a 1:1 setting. These meetings were great, I got to learn more about everyone on our team and all that they had to offer. While all of our therapists treat a wide variety of conditions, our therapists also offer some great specialty services to meet your needs. I would like to first recognize Kaitlin Sonday, our athletic trainer who also works at Stillwater High School and sees a lot of their athletes. All of our therapists work with athletes from around the Stillwater area but Sara Lumby works very closely with Kaitlin to treat a wide variety of athletic injuries and get athletes back onto the field/court/rink/diamond. Scott Wilkins is another great therapist who treats all conditions but has done some great work with complex knee injuries and concussions. Ross Van Natta is another therapist that treats patients with concussions as well as vestibular or balance disorders and conditions of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). For the upper extremity Scott Forrest is phenomenal at treating a variety of shoulder and elbow conditions that affect the highly competitive athletic and the weekend warrior alike. For all you runners, Katie Larson is the person to see, being an active runner herself and having a wealth of knowledge in running injuries she will work hard to get you back into running shape. Additionally, we have two great therapists here that not only treat higher-level athletes but also specialize in treatment of complex spine injuries and they are Steve Schneider and Brian Webber. Steve and Brian have a wealth of knowledge and extensive training in manual therapy for the spine and extremities. For the hand we have a great certified hand therapist, Kari Paulson who treats a variety of post-operative conditions as well as conditions like tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, tendinitis in the hand, carpal tunnel syndrome and more. For all you dancers, Kristi Hughlett is the therapist for you! Kristi also enjoys treating issues with the sacroiliac joint (or SI joint) of the lower back. If you don’t dance as much but enjoy participating in Yoga, Ashley Labore is your PT! Ashley not only enjoys treating Yogis but also is a Yoga instructor. We also have therapists like Julie Meyer who enjoy treating a little bit of everything and have had extensive continuing education in treating a variety of conditions. Julie also helps run our occupational health program/work rehab with Lisa Hanselman who is our occupational therapist that specializes in work rehab, working with clients to get them back to doing the duties of their job. Additionally, some of the other specialties we offer include: dry needling, cupping and Graston which are soft tissue (muscle, tendon) treatments that can help to alleviate pain and improve motion. Finally, there are two people that are at the core of OSI that everyone who has been to OSI probably know, these two people are Mike Ripley (one of the owners of OSI) and Linda Olsen (PT assistant and assistant manager). Mike and Linda work closely as a team to provide excellent care to all of their patients, when you work with Mike and Linda patients not only get better but you will have fun doing it. Last but not least, I would also like to recognize all of our support staff: Rachel McClenahan, Roni Rumpf, Jill Weegman, Kris LaVoie, Molly Belisle, Kitt Picard and Megan Olson. These women all make the clinic run smoothly and play a HUGE role in the exceptional experience that our clients get.
Finally, the one question that I had asked everyone on our team is “what keeps you coming back to work and showing up year after year.” I thought I would get several answers but there really was only two resounding themes. They were “the people” and “the patients.” What it came down to was everyone that works here truly enjoys showing up to work because they felt like they worked with their family and they are treating their family. From my time here after PT school and now I have definitely noticed a strong sense of community and belonging that is displayed by all clients and therapists alike. Thank you all for reading and again, I am very excited to take on this role serving those here at OSI Stillwater and everyone in the community!
Regards,
Greg Bailen, PT, DPT, MTC, CSCS
