One patient had suffered a debilitating stroke.
“With traditional therapy, it typically would’ve taken a year for him to recover 100 percent,” says Occupational Therapist Keitoria LaCount. “With aquatic therapy, he was going back to work after just five months.”
LaCount is the founder and owner of Holistic Occupational and Physical Therapy in Atlanta. She uses individual “Hydroworks” water tanks with treadmills that are wheelchair-accessible.
“The buoyancy of water offers patients an increased range of motion while removing the factors of gravity and pain,” she says. “It really speeds up the therapeutic outcome. The treadmill is especially good for helping hip-replacement patients get back to a normal gait.”
LaCount grew up in Bainbridge, Georgia, and earned her OT degree at Florida A&M. She practiced for 16 years, all the while wondering what it would be like to own a business. “It’s an idea I’ve had since college.”
After traditional banks turned her away, a real estate agent suggested she check out ACE. LaCount received a loan of $45,000, which she applied to equipment, leasing, and marketing. She opened her doors in 2015. Today, she oversees five employees, and she intends to expand her practice into the two office buildings that currently flank Holistic Occupational and Physical Therapy.
“I plan to continue using the resources at ACE,” she says, citing marketing, bookkeeping, and business investing advice. “I couldn’t have done all of this without ACE.”