Name: Professional Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation
Owner: Mitchell Hackerman, 49, Cape May Court House
Location: North Cape May, Lower Township
Acquired: June 2008
Employees: Four
I evaluate and treat patients with orthopedic and neurologic involvement. We have a back and neck pain center as part of the facility.
I have the ATM2 system. ATM stands for Active Therapeutic Movements, a treatment based on combined clinician/patient effort to manage and control muscular-skeletal pain, for true pain free spinal cord stabilization training that you can’t get with exercises.
For spinal decompression, I have a Kennedy table that allows people to lay on their stomach, back or side.
I know a lot of people have been paying out of pocket for the real fancy machines, but these decompression machines are all traction machines. They shouldn’t be paying out of pocket if they have insurance.
We do specialized manual therapy. I’m certified in the McKenzie Approach, and I also use Brian Mulligan procedures and a variety of other methodologies. There are specialized tools to treat scar tissue and tendon problems.
Most cases involve orthopedics and muscle and skeletal pain. That could come from any type of injury, from sports to accidents to however people can injure themselves, even poor posture.
I don’t have session time limits. When people come in, they pretty much stay here as long as they need to. They average two hours and some stay as long as four hours.
This is a very social, amiable place. We’ve even had song and dance in this place.
I worked most of my life as an employee and had to choose whether to work for a conglomerate or physician group, and decided the best way to provide care was in my own facility. A practice was for sale and I sent my resume to Robert Post, and worked with him for a month or so. We hit it off and he chose me to take over the facility.
I want to expand my facility to other locations eventually.
Our focus is on evidence-based practice. What matters is how people respond to therapy, not the theoretical model.
Business editor Kevin Post
