Courageous Rehab and Wellness combines fitness and physical therapy

MONROE— In April 2024, physical therapist Dr. Emily Neil opened the doors of Courageous Rehab and Wellness in Monroe. The business is part 24/7 gym, complete with equipment left over from the previous GoMAD Express that used to be at that location, and part office for her physical therapy practice.

This comes from Neil’s desire to make her services more accessible to a wider group of people.

After working in a busy clinic out of college and offering physical therapy door-to-door she became convinced that there had to be a better way to get her services to the people that needed them. With CR Wellness, she found what she was looking for.

“So, I’m there as an easy access to a medical professional to be like, ‘Can you come watch me do my form? What would you suggest? My knee’s bothering me,’” she explained.

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This combination is also part of her overarching belief that physical therapy has to combine with fitness in order to meet the full needs of patients. While therapy is important, she explained, once a patient is discharged, they can’t do much more than give them a slap on the back and remind them to continue their exercise program. In the gym environment, she can look out for them better if they join as a member.

“I can go above and beyond what I normally can,” she said.

The ultimate goal of physical therapy, she said, is to help get patients out of the house, another area that she said CR Wellness helps with and adds to the whole wellness of her patients.

“I think if COVID taught us anything, it’s that we need to be active, we need to be socializing, we need to be out in the world, so the goal is to bring people out of their houses into an environment that’s supportive, that’s welcoming, that has equipment that they can use, so that they can reenter the world,” she said.

Neil still has plans for the business, including a full repaint, hiring a personal trainer, and hosting a “soft opening” to rechristen the location in July.

— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Courageous Rehab and Wellness combines the gym with physical therapy