HEALTH CARE HEROES: Eric McElroy
Eric McElroy, PT, DPT, OCS
Co-owner and regional director, ProRehab Physical Therapy
Category: Innovator
Years in the industry: 14 years
Years in current job: 10 years
Hobbies: Golf, snow skiing, boating.
Favorite TV show, movie or book about the medical field: Movie, “Patch Adams”
Describe your job and your responsibilities.
I’m first and foremost a physical therapy provider that continues to help patients get back to their lives and doing what they love. In addition, I’m also a manager and business owner of a rapidly growing Physical Therapy practice and am responsible for the professional growth and development of our team members, overall clinic growth and making a lasting impact on the overall health of the Louisville community.
To you, what makes someone a health care hero?
Health care should be more than a simple career choice; it should be a calling. In turn, a health care hero is someone who does not settle for the easy answer, an innovator that challenges the status quo, an unassuming listener, and an advocate for the people whose lives we work to improve.
Tell us about a highlight from your career.
The highlight of my career has been to witness and be a part of the growth and evolution within the physical therapy space. Through research, evidence and education we have been able to make great strides toward a 20-year vision that continues to guide our profession. And the depth of our practice continues to grow.
Our profession has now made it a priority to change the narrative surrounding conditions such as chronic pain, a leading cause of the opioid epidemic. In 2018, Kentucky providers wrote 79.5 opioid prescriptions for every 100 patients. In 2020, we saw an increase of drug overdose deaths involving opioids due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These numbers cannot be ignored, which is why the physical therapy industry, and ProRehab in particular, has also began to progress into the innovative health care space as well.
