As a student at Oak Park and River Forest High School once upon a time, Caty Stegemann took a specialized test that would indicate what field of work in which she would excel as a professional.
Two possibilities were presented – healthcare and education.
A tough decision, but she took up the former and has thrived.
Stegemann founded Centre Physical Therapy at 207 Harrison St. in Oak Park in 2018, and since has expanded to Riverside and Lincoln Park. She plans to open a fourth location at 7625 Lake St. in River Forest this fall.
“OPRF was instrumental, and I did my volunteer work in the physical therapy department at West Suburban [Medical Center],” said Stegemann, who went to St. Louis University. “I fell in love with getting to know my patients one on one and helping them with whatever deficit they were dealing with.”
The calling card for her success has been ensuring every patient feels listened to, cared for and empowered.
“I want people to be proactive with their health as opposed to reactive,” she said. “We’re able to see patients without a physician’s referral. I think it’s instrumental in avoiding injuries.”
What’s kind of funny to her is that there is an element of education to what she and her team do.
For example, any idea what vestibular rehabilitation is? No? Stegemann is your source.
“It’s when patients have an acute onset of dizziness,” she said. “It can be from an inner-ear issue, it can be from a concussion. Sometimes it can be from chronic neck pain or a migraine.”
Or how about TMJ?
That stands for the long-winded temporal mandibular joint.
“People who grind their teeth, clench their jaw or even have chronic headaches, and facial and neck tension, that can sometimes be coming from TMJ,” she said.
As an entrepreneur, there is certainly more to Stegemann’s professional life than care and education. It’s building a team at not one, but three locations (soon to be four) that are equally effective and share the same values.
In other words, it’s about team building, because, as she admitted with a chuckle, she can’t clone herself.
“I have very trustworthy managers at every clinic, so now I can actually step away from each of the clinics and know that they are being run smoothly,” she said. “The team at all the clinics are the best coworkers.”
Jill Thompson is manager at the Riverside location, 1 Riverside Road, Unit 107.
“She kind of makes sure there is a team collaborative approach with our patients,” Thompson said. “When she’s here, it’s kind of busy for her, because we throw a lot of questions at her. She’ll answer questions and pop over to look at a patient. That’s part of our collaboration.”
Team building does include an element of fun, Thompson added, including bowling and pool parties, which allows employees at all locations to meet each other.
While the challenges of owning a business are many, another issue is thriving in a male-dominated field. Stegemann has lectured at many symposiums, usually focusing on the hip, which is her specialty, and often she is the only woman.
“I think I kind of gain respect in that I am a solo entrepreneur,” she said.
Stegemann, who lives in Riverside with her husband, Erik, and their two children, said that making all the tumblers fall as a business owner and a parent is the bigger challenge.
“You’re juggling that no matter what,” she said, “but Erik has been instrumental when I have to work those late nights and he can get my children to their activities.”
What of the future of Centre Physical Therapy? Stegemann has lots of ideas, but the biggest parameter is not growing so big that patients lose their one-on-one care … and her team doesn’t feel like a team anymore.
“I don’t want to grow too big where I lose sight of the family that we’ve built through Centre,” she said.