黑料专区

In 1977, Bill Walsh of Concord, N.C. received a B.S. degree in occupational therapy (OT) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 2003, he earned a Master of Health Administration/Master of Business Administration degree (MHA/MBA) from 黑料专区.

This academic background has proven particularly potent for Walsh, 71, who is still working as a Senior Therapist for . And so has hand therapy, his OT specialty, for which Doris Ann Slack, one of his instructors at the State University of New York at Buffalo, sparked an interest.

鈥淗ands just called to me,鈥� Walsh said. 鈥淎 lot of what gives you a sense of value is accomplished through your hands, whether it鈥檚 touching another life, whether it鈥檚 bowling, throwing a ball with somebody, or tying your shoes. I鈥檝e derived a lot of satisfaction from helping my patients recapture that value through therapy and other services I鈥檝e provided them.鈥�

Walsh鈥檚 journey in the hand therapy space began with a clinical internship at the Philadelphia Hand Rehabilitation Center. It has included OT stints at such places as the Hand Rehabilitation Center at UNC-Chapel Hill鈥檚 School of Medicine and the Duke University Medical Center.

It has gone way beyond helping individuals with hand injuries or with conditions that adversely affect the hands, such as arthritis or Parkinson鈥檚 disease. At BenchMark, for example, he is responsible for launching the clinical operations of hand therapy services within two established clinics in Concord and Salisbury, N.C. He has worked tirelessly to advance the hand therapy specialty, primarily as a researcher and as a lecturer/instructor at several universities. He has put in years of committee and board work for the .

Walsh鈥檚 greatest achievement in hand therapy has been as an entrepreneur. He founded, directed, and served as the managing partner for Hand & Rehabilitation Specialists of NC, LLP, a Greensboro, N.C.-based practice that he sold to BenchMark in 2014. Under Walsh鈥檚 direction, Hand & Rehabilitation Specialists gradually expanded to include five free-standing clinics in the Piedmont Triad that focused on orthopedic rehabilitation and return-to-work services. It came to employ 40 clinical and support staff and to receive referrals from over 100 physicians.

Walsh credits his entrepreneurial success with the practical know-how he acquired at Pfeiffer. This covered critical areas such as computer systems, strategic planning, and personnel management.

鈥淚n therapy school, they teach you how to treat patients,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 necessarily focus on how to develop business acumen and administration skills.鈥�

Walsh spoke at length about his many steps to start and expand his business. One of the most important was contacting the office managers of doctors he had worked with before becoming self-employed and asking for the zip codes of their patients. An analysis of this data determined where he should set up clinics.

At one point, Walsh needed to secure financing from banks. So, he looked up statistics from the showing that hand injuries were among the most frequent and common injuries to the body in certain counties. 鈥淚 had done the business research to indicate that there was a need for my services and my particular specialization,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he banks reacted favorably to that.鈥�

Walsh stressed that successful self-employed people must know themselves.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 good about the personality of a self-employed person is what鈥檚 good about their business,鈥� he said. 鈥淎lso, what鈥檚 bad about their personality is what sours their business.鈥�

Walsh learned early on to find the right resources and people to shore up his weaknesses.

鈥淚鈥檓 a fairly analytical person, but I鈥檓 not very intuitive,鈥� Walsh said, citing one example. 鈥淪ome of my managers knew before I did when somebody was thinking about leaving the company. They just sensed that. Having people who have a better gut check is beneficial because it can lead to adult conversations about certain issues and what can be done about them. The key is having them trust me that there鈥檚 not going to be consequences.鈥�

Walsh looks back on his entrepreneurial days with pride and with appreciation for the role that Pfeiffer played in his success.

鈥淭he graduate education helped me expand the scope of what I could influence,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t helped me expand the number of lives I could touch.鈥�