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<\/p>\nQUINCY \u2014 In a healthcare world often driven by insurance approvals, rushed appointments, and rigid treatment plans, Dr. Leah Whipple and Dr. Alaina Gribler wanted to create something different.<\/p>\n
The women behind Hands On Therapy, 1905 Jefferson, Quincy, have built what they describe as the first all cash-based physical therapy clinic of its kind in the area. But after spending time talking with them, it becomes obvious that the business is about far more than the payment model itself.<\/p>\n
It is about listening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got tired of the way insurance limited patient care,\u201d Leah said. \u201cYou had to go see the doctor, pay for that office visit, then maybe you could come to physical therapy. Or maybe insurance only approved six visits, even if the patient clearly needed more.\u201d<\/p>\n
For years, both women worked inside more traditional healthcare settings. Over time, they found themselves frustrated by what physical therapy had become in some places.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would hear patients say they went somewhere and they were treating three or four patients at once,\u201d Leah explained. \u201cOr they felt like they were basically getting a home exercise program and that was it. I just felt like that\u2019s not what I want physical therapy to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Leah and Alaina built Hands On Therapy around one central philosophy: treat the person, not just the body part.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery patient is different,\u201d Leah said. \u201cYou have to look at the whole picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
That approach means appointments are personalized to the patient\u2019s actual lifestyle, pain points, goals, and daily movement patterns instead of simply following a prewritten insurance-approved regimen.<\/p>\n
Alaina says accessibility and affordability were huge motivations behind opening the clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot wrong with healthcare right now,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think two of the biggest things are access and affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n
She explained that even as a healthcare professional herself, traditional physical therapy through insurance could still be financially overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was on a high-deductible plan, and even for me as a physical therapist to go get PT, it would\u2019ve cost over $200 for a half-hour session,\u201d Alaina said. \u201cHealthcare in general is just not affordable to the average person anymore, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
By operating as a cash-based clinic, patients can come directly to Hands On Therapy without needing referrals or waiting for insurance approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Illinois, physical therapists can see patients without referrals,\u201d Alaina explained. \u201cBut insurance companies still create barriers because providers want to make sure they\u2019ll get paid. We wanted to remove some of that and make care more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The care itself often goes beyond what many people traditionally think physical therapy looks like.<\/p>\n
Hands On Therapy offers services including fascial release work, cupping, Graston and IASTM techniques, visceral manipulation, red light therapy, and sauna recovery services. Leah says fascial release has become one of the most talked-about therapies among patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are hearing about fascia all over social media now,\u201d Leah laughed. \u201cSo they come in asking, \u2018How do you release fascia?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She explained that many of their techniques focus on improving circulation, mobility, and long-term function instead of simply chasing temporary pain relief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t always treat this way when I first started,\u201d Leah admitted. \u201cBut now I believe more in preventative care and maintenance. People don\u2019t just want the pain fixed. They don\u2019t want it to happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some patients come in after injuries. Others come in because years of physically demanding work have slowly worn on their body.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes your body is just naturally going to shift back into those patterns because of your job or lifestyle,\u201d Leah explained. \u201cYou can\u2019t always change that completely, but you can help manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
One of the stories that impacted Alaina most involved a local small business owner suffering from osteomyelitis of the spine, an infection that severely affected his ability to move.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe couldn\u2019t walk. He couldn\u2019t transfer himself. He really couldn\u2019t do anything day to day without assistance,\u201d Alaina said.<\/p>\n
Because he did not have insurance, he struggled to find treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody in town would see him because he didn\u2019t have insurance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Leah and Alaina began treating him directly, even making visits to his home while slowly helping him regain mobility.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started with transfers and standing,\u201d Alaina recalled. \u201cThen eventually walking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over time, the patient improved enough to walk into the clinic himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow he\u2019s back to work and doing what he was doing before,\u201d Alaina said. \u201cHe was just so grateful to get his life back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments like that continue to remind both women why they took the risk of opening the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime someone tells me they can do one thing they couldn\u2019t do before, that\u2019s rewarding,\u201d Alaina said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their partnership itself is rooted in years of trust and mentorship. Before becoming business partners, Leah actually served as one of Alaina\u2019s clinical instructors during school.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was one of the best instructors I had,\u201d Alaina said. \u201cI learned so many different techniques and ways to treat people from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
That connection is still visible when the two work together today. They share similar treatment philosophies, similar goals for patient care, and a mutual desire to make people feel genuinely heard.<\/p>\n
Hands On Therapy may be a small business in a large healthcare industry, but Leah and Alaina have built something deeply personal inside their clinic walls.<\/p>\n
Not rushed. Not assembly-line healthcare. Just people helping people heal.<\/p>\n
Your body speaks to you every day \u2013 through pain, tightness, stress, exhaustion, and limitation.<\/p>\n
The question is whether someone is willing to listen.<\/p>\n
At Hands On Therapy, Leah and Alaina do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QUINCY \u2014 In a healthcare world often driven by insurance approvals, rushed appointments, and rigid treatment plans, Dr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[163,521,85,46],"class_list":["post-459752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}