Physical therapist wants to solve people’s problems

From a young age, Jill Gibbon has had a fascination with solving problems.

Her desire to learn more about the inner workings of things inspired her to go to The College of St. Catherine to explore biochemistry and engineering. But Gibbon quickly realized she didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk in a lab. Always intrigued by the human body, she decided to focus on physical therapy. To her, the human body is “a system of levers and pulleys” that works together.

“When your head is hanging forward, what’s happening to the muscles behind your head?” she asked. “How can we align things to make things work better?”

After working for Tamarack Health as a physical therapist for about 17 years, she has opened up her own practice in downtown Ashland called PWR Physical Therapy.

PWR stands for performance, wellness and rehabilitation—the three big aspects of physical therapy that Gibbon wants to focus on. Concentrating on performance could mean training for a race or something someone wants to be ready for, she said. Wellness means trying to be healthier, which can be accomplished in all sorts of ways.

“Maybe you need some help getting active or your balance isn’t great. Whether you’re just starting or in the middle, we’re going to help you get to that higher level and push that wellness with you,” Gibbon said.

Rehabilitation is what people commonly associate with physical therapy, she said. Gibbon is happy to help people recover from shoulder surgery or deal with their back pain, and everything in between.

While there is a handful of quality physical therapists in the Bay Area, she said it’s hard to book an appointment due to limited availably, and dealing with insurance companies only makes it more difficult.

To help alleviate that problem, she has opted to operate her business using an out-of-network model.

“There’s a lot of overhead—a lot of things that have to happen behind the scene when you deal with insurance companies. I have less overhead so I can provide more value to the customer,” Gibbon said.