Since 2005 we’ve had one goal: To make our community healthier.
We had just returned home from a long honeymoon in Europe where we had cycled over and around the Alps for 3 months and then off to North America. We were young, fit, idealistic and excited!
Before departing on our big trip I’d lived in Albury for 12 months and loved it. Having been raised in Manangatang I had a passion for Regional Australia and Regional people. Lisa had grown up in Wodonga. Albury-Wodonga was a natural and perfect fit – we were desperate to make a difference and this was the place we wanted to do it.
And so Osteopathy on Young was born- initially in a room attached to the front of our house. This only lasted 2 years before we’d gotten too busy (a recurring theme as it turns out!). We had a particular brand of care- we wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. We wanted to assist them in reaching their goals, and we wanted to empower them to keep doing the things they love. We also wanted to have fun while doing it- our patient’s are great people and we enjoyed their company so why wouldn’t we have fun? We take your health very seriously – but not ourselves.
Osteohealth was created in 2007 as we began to expand and employ other therapists. It was the year we moved to our current site on David St (you can’t very well name your business after a street and then move from that street- business error number 1!).
The Osteohealth philosophy obviously struck a chord with the community. Since those humble beginnings we’ve progressively grown and we’ve positively impacted tens of thousands of lives over the last 14 years. We have been able to be a part of so many families and the trust they place in us is something we find incredibly humbling and rewarding. We have been a part of so many amazing stories and an integral part of people’s lives. We’ve been there to help people through pregnancies, end of life, grand finals, holidays, hikes, fundraisers, National Championships, World Championships, Ironman’s- and the most rewarding of all is to improve quality of life. We’ve helped people be able to play on the floor with their grandchildren; we’ve helped people avoid surgery; we’ve eliminated dizziness and headaches and reduced people’s pain.
We have become a meaningful influence for good, and a trusted resource for our community. WOW! That is such an honour to be able to write that.
But we know we can do it better.
Osteohealth is growing and it is moving.
We are currently building a purpose built facility at 799 Mate Street. It is going to be amazing and we are so excited to show it to you all! Our existing site has been perfect to allow us to get to the size that we can do this but it has had limitations – particularly regarding exercise facilities. Our little gym/bike fit studio/hand therapy/treatment room simply does not allow us to do the exercises that are fundamental to improving quality of life. Osteohealth now has 2 magnificent gym areas. We have a rehabilitation gym for people doing specific exercises for a particular condition with all of the equipment you would expect to see in a space like this. And we have a large open space to conduct classes- much more GLA:D programs to prevent hip/knee replacements, general strength and conditioning, falls prevention, return to run, pilates and many more. We’ve also employed Sam who is going to be an amazing resource to our team. He is a Sports Scientist with a Masters in Strength and Conditioning and he will be managing our gym areas.
We are extraordinarily good at managing people through the initial phases of injury and reducing pain and we will continue to do so. But that is only half the job. We need to optimize your health so that you can carry on doing the things that you need to do, and love to do, without risk. This can only happen with exercise. In every consult we talk about this with you- I’m sure you’ve heard us. We send reminders, we give handouts, we have an app that tracks how often you open it so that we can see if you are doing them or not. And overwhelmingly people don’t. This is a problem as it means that people don’t fully recover. Without improving strength and control you are going to re-injure. It takes 6-8 weeks to improve muscle strength (this is a biological fact and we simply can’t make it happen faster!). We want to make this fun, easy and cost effective for you so that you can return to the gym, garden, sport or your life without pain or risk.
Osteohealth has always done things differently.
We care.
We have fun.
We use the right person (whether they are osteo, physio, hand therapist) for the right job at the right time.
We have the right systems to ensure clinical excellence.
We are now creating the right facility to allow this to happen better.
Lisa and I put Osteohealth in ‘neutral’ for the last 3 years so that we could take a ‘mid-life’ break and spend time doing extraordinary things with our two daughters. It has been amazing and we are so glad that we have, but it is time to fulfill the potential of Osteohealth.
We are for our community, and we are part of your community. You’ll see us running, playing football, swimming, looking after your kids and your parents. You’ll see us speaking at businesses, supporting events and teams as well as competing ourselves. We know that physical health is directly linked to mental health- if you optimise one, you positively impact the other. We are part of the solution. We love this region and we want to make it healthier.
We passionately believe the body is adaptable and with the right changes in activity, behaviour and education we can help anyone achieve their goals.
From 2020……..
We’ve been quiet because it’s in our DNA. We feel that your results should speak for themselves. And they have. We have become one of the largest clinics in Albury through nothing but good work and our patient’s being vocal advocates for the way we look after them.
And we are about to get bigger…
As of 2020 we are launching another first in Albury-Wodonga – a completely integrated musculoskeletal healthcare facility. One that is purpose built to support your physical goals- whether that be to reduce pain, get rid of your headache, or set a personal best. We have the team and the facility to make this a reality. We invite you to join us and experience the difference that 14 years of clinical excellence can create. Our promise is that we will continue to innovate, educate and strive to improve health outcomes in our region.
Our values haven’t changed- we’ll still have fun and be exceptional at our job- we’ll just do it better and in a new location. We cannot wait to see you at the ‘Paris End’ of Mate Street from January 2nd 2020!
-Tom Barry