The woman on the stationary bike smiles broadly; she just managed to make several complete cycles, unassisted this time, and unhampered by her once-shattered, now slowly healing kneecap.
The utility worker who fell and wrenched his leg on the job has finished his floor marching under the watchful eye of the kinesiologist, and moved to the graduated climb, working to strengthen his leg in an attempt to avoid surgery.
Next to him, a tech keeps count of the leg lifts performed by a dedicated woman devoted to strengthening herself in preparation for getting double knee replacements.
And in the corner, the lead therapist, Dr. Rasha Harris, is carefully explaining to a new patient each move she makes as she assesses the man’s injured shoulder and notes his reactions. Her concentration on the assessment is profound, but if you’d ask her what everyone else in the room is doing at the same time, she could tell you.
At the Total Rehab and Wellness facility in Yacht Haven Grande, it’s serious business – punctuated by humorous asides, light conversation and a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose among staff and patients.
“The atmosphere we try to maintain is very friendly,” Harris said when she paused for an interview last week. “We try to make it as pleasant as possible, and that’s because you’re already miserable when you come.”
Aware of the challenges and pain their patients face, Harris said she and her staff encourage people but “we don’t let you get away with anything either. We whip you with a smile on our face,” she joked.
Harris grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. She said she earned her bachelor’s of science degree in kinesiotherapy from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, her master’s degree in physical therapy from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, and a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of St. Augustine in Florida.
Soon after she finished her schooling in 2000, she answered a help wanted ad and moved to St. Thomas to work at Roy L. Schneider Regional Medical Center. The motivation for the move was simple. “I wanted sun,” she said. “I’m fine with one season a year.”
By 2003, she had met her husband – “He’s the reason I stayed” – and decided to open her own business. She’s moved Total Rehab & Wellness twice since then, each time adding space and staff. The facility now boasts some 4,000 square feet and a staff of five, including Harris.
“We have a unique team approach,” she said. Current members are: Corey Post, a physical therapist assistant; Travis Johnson, an exercise specialist whose degree is in kinesiology (the study of movement); Deanna Willis, manager and technician; and Giselle Lathuillene, who handles appointments and other office duties.
Willis has been with Harris almost from the beginning. She said she knew nothing about physical rehabilitation when she started out helping in the office, but has learned a lot and is considering going back to school to learn more. Johnson is also contemplating more education, though he knows it’s a long haul for an advanced degree in physical therapy.
Harris said she knew early on that she wanted to go into the medical field. She chose physical therapy because she believes it offered the greatest sense of satisfaction. A therapist tends to have an intense and relatively long relationship with a patient, one that sometimes goes beyond “the skeletal and structural,” she said.
“You get to actually connect with people,” she said. “You get to help them out the door on their own feet.”
The care is personalized, she stressed, because “You want to return to your life, not Mr. Smith’s next door.”
Harris said she treats a wide range of conditions and a wide range of patients.
“We see everything, from babies to 102-year-olds,” from congenital diseases, such as cerebral palsy, to sports injuries and joint replacements to “the aches and pains of growing up again. . . We get pre-surgical patients. We get post-surgical patients. We get ones avoiding surgery.”
On the wellness side of the business, she also treats people who need to control their weight or otherwise develop a more healthy lifestyle. They start with a tri-screening to evaluate their cardio-muscular development, body composition and core strength.
Sometimes a patient who completes medically managed physical therapy will then become a wellness client.
“That’s the biggest compliment, a person coming back, or referring us (to others,)” Harris said.
In addition to the Total Rehab and Wellness center, Harris also works as a consultant and makes home visits to a few patients who are housebound.
