Walk into Hulst Jepsen Physical Therapy in Lowell and you might think you were in a gym. The cozy space at 1335 W. Main Street contains a variety of exercise equipment, but breaking a sweat is not the goal here.
Instead, Hulst Jepsen offers medical care to help people recover from injuries, regain strength after surgery and find relief from chronic pain.
Matt Schmitz is at the helm of the center, which employs four full-time physical therapists. He knows Lowell residents have multiple choices when it comes to their care and says that Hulst Jepsen sets itself apart by focusing on a dozen guiding principles that include generosity, excellence, transparency and efficiency.
“We’re a God-centered company, and that piece is important to us,” Schmitz says, adding that Hulst Jepsen is also committed to providing the highest quality care. “We’re a company that is striving for excellence in our therapists.”
For those who need help with mobility or pain management, the therapists at Hulst Jepsen Lowell promise personalized care that is designed to put the patient first.
Twenty-Four Years of Serving West Michigan
While the Lowell location of Hulst Jepsen was founded in 2017, the company’s roots go deeper than that.
Tom Hulst founded hist first physical therapy center in Kentwood in 2000. A year later, he was joined by John Jepsen. Today, the company they created has 22 locations across West Michigan and also offers in-home physical therapy.
Across all its locations, Hulst Jepsen offers care in three dozen different specialties. These include sports-related therapy, chronic pain management, and orthopedic clinical care.
At a time when many health care providers are owned by large, national corporations, Hulst Jepsen remains locally owned and operated.
“We are really invested in the community,” Schmitz says. The Lowell location supports a variety of local initiatives, such as sponsoring the annual Riverwalk Festival and Run the Riverwalk 5K.
Services at Hulst Jepsen Lowell
The Lowell location offers services that include dry needling and vestibular rehabilitation. It also partners with Lowell High School to provide services for student athletes. However, a large portion of their work is outpatient orthopedic physical therapy.
“That can be (for) anything from post-surgical to injuries to ‘my back hurts,’” Schmitz explains.
A 1998 graduate of the physical therapy program at Grand Valley State University, Schmitz is an orthopedic clinical specialist and certified in the McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy. He is also certified in dry needling and as a running gait analyst.
Relationship-building is a key component of the work at Hulst Jepsen, and therapists spend time evaluating patients and creating a treatment plan for their needs. If someone is in pain, they can expect to receive soft tissue or joint mobilization during the first visit to provide relief.
At the same time, therapists know when an issue requires care beyond what they can provide.
“We are trained enough to know if something is not musculoskeletal,” Schmitz says. In that case, staff will direct clients to the right provider to address their concerns. On at least on one occasion, that has involved calling an ambulance for someone deemed to have an immediate, urgent medical need.
How to Get Physical Therapy in Lowell
People often misunderstand physical therapy as simply “a bunch of exercises,” according to Schmitz, but he explains that hands-on treatment is an integral part of helping patients regain their mobility and recover from an injury or illness.
State law allows people to visit a physical therapist for three weeks or 10 visits without a doctor visit although be aware that your insurer may have their own requirements for coverage.
Seeking out physical therapy can be appropriate if you have loss of function, pain or stiffness that persists longer than two weeks, Schmitz says. Loss of function refers to being unable to do something that you previously could, such as bending, reaching or lifting.
“A lot of people wait too long,” Schmitz says. While some loss of function may be related to the aging process, Hulst Jepsen provides free consultations to help people determine if therapy is warranted.
Assuming it is, Schmitz says people don’t have to worry about coming to the center indefinitely. The total course of treatment for many people spans only 4-6 weeks.
To learn more about Hulst Jepsen in Lowell, visit their website or follow them on Facebook.
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