Ruse on the Loose: Morristown therapist likes watching people get better

Since opening his own practice in 1994, physical therapist Thomas Trezza has enjoyed watching his business grow along with his patients.

"I've seen some of these people over the duration of 20 years. Folks come in and say, how old are your kids now because I remember when they were in car seats when I first came in. What's going on now?" Trezza, 49, said.

Despite being the owner of Physical Therapy Services of Morristown, Trezza treats a full caseload of patients and finds it's the best part of each day.

"Most of my contemporaries who own businesses, do not treat patients full-time. They're sitting behind a desk and doing paperwork and basically running the business," Trezza said.

"I did not become a physical therapist to look at spreadsheets. I became a physical therapist to treat patients. I just took on that added responsibility when I opened my own place. So I enjoy it."

Growing up in Staten Island, Trezza graduated from Long Island University in Brooklyn. His first job brought him to Springfield before he decided to open his own office in Morristown.

"It's been great. There's a lot of good doctors in the area, a lot of physicians that are well-known within their fields so there's a nice mix of patients. The medical community here is real good," said Trezza, who raised three children with his wife Tara in New Providence.

"I'm lucky. I have a profession that I love doing, I think I'm pretty good at it and I'm my own boss which I like. You see people get better. You see people come in on crutches and in a brace and two months later they're walking out of here with nothing on their knee and no crutches in their hand. I really enjoy treating patients and they appreciate it, too. It makes you feel good."

Trezza passed on attending medical school because he felt he'd be spending too much time in the classroom.

"I just thought it was too much schooling. I didn't want to be in school that long. But with the advent of the way things worked out, I was in school a long time anyway," Trezza, said with a laugh.

For the first five years, Trezza was the only treating therapist in his practice but then he hired Allison Johansen, followed by Stephanie Bolebruch ten years later.

"They have people calling them back and saying, I was here four years ago and I saw Alli or I saw Stephanie and I want to come back and see them again. Which is a credit to them as a clinician because even though it's not their business, they're kind of establishing themselves as a known entity," said Trezza.

"I want them to treat each patient like it's their own business. I want them to feel invested in the patient because they're going to cultivate that relationship that God forbid, something else happens down the line, they'll come back."

After a lifetime of playing sports and dealing with athletic trainers and orthopedic surgeons, Trezza was familiar with sports injuries. He wanted the chance to help others maintain their current lifestyle, whether they were athletic or just wanted to get back on their feet.

"It's definitely a challenge to get patients walking again. Whether it's an older person who's had a joint replacement or a younger kid who's had some type of sports injury or a 30 something who got hurt playing co-ed volleyball at the rec center on a Thursday night, those kind of people want to get back to doing what they want to do," said Trezza, a basketball player in college.

"They don't want to be injured and they don't want to not be able to do those things. If you can get them back to that point, it's very rewarding. It really is."

At a time when many medical offices try to treat as many patients as possible, Trezza believes in having each client see the same therapist throughout their care.

"What we do is a little unique. We only have physical therapists on staff so nobody ends up getting handed off. The patient will come in and get scheduled with one of the three of us and they will stay with that person for the duration of care. Which is nice for them. You can keep tabs on your own person, so I think it bodes well overall. I think it sets a nice tone."

In the past 20 years, Trezza notes he's seen an increase in the age of many of his patients, who are no longer content sitting at home.

"We're so much more active as an older population. Folks in their sixties and seventies nowadays still want to play golf. They want to play tennis, they ski, they go to the gym, they walk. My grandparents when they were in their sixties and seventies, they weren't doing any of this," Trezza said.

"So it is rewarding and it is nice but to be honest, there's a lot more people out there who are potential candidates for our services because people are not accepting that a problem is just related to the fact that they're getting older. They're definitely proactive in getting something fixed. They don't want to have free time and not do what they want to do. It's definitely good stuff."

Trezza was happy when his daughter decided to follow in her father's footsteps, heading off to the University of Scranton this month. Growing up, the athletic youngster spent time in her father's office with major and minor injuries.

"She thought it was a pretty good thing to do and it's pretty cool that she thinks what her father does is an OK deal. I'm lucky. My daughter's going to pick a career where she'll have her professional license and she'll be able to have some flexibility in terms of deciding where she wants to work and what type of patients she wants to see," Trezza said.

"Not a lot of kids coming out of school have that option so I think it'll be a good thing for her. It's pretty cool that she's following in my footsteps."

Despite the healthcare industry consolidating and becoming larger and larger, Physical Therapy Services of Morristown intends to keep treating their clients as individuals, not numbers.

"People get in here, they get the time they deserve and they have experienced people treating them. It's more personal. It lets you know you're doing things right when people call you back and want to come back, when unfortunately they have an injury or surgery. Nobody calls us for a good reason," Trezza said, laughing.

"We try to give people a feeling that it's a local business. They feel like they're welcome here. I'm a lucky guy and I'm pretty blessed that what I do has some meaning and has some value. All of us definitely have a wealth of experience which I think is important. That's kind of what we take pride in."

For the fifth consecutive year, Physical Therapy Services of Morristown, LLC has been selected for the 2013 Best of Morristown Award in the Physical Therapy Center category by the U.S. Commerce Assn.

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UNICO, the largest Italian American Service Organization, awarded Nicole Schollmeyer the 2014 Sgt. John Basilone Graduate Scholarship. A 2009 graduate of Randolph High School, Nicole graduated from Duke University Summa Cum Laude and with Distinction, with a 3.97 GPA in Psychology and Education. During Commencement Weekend at Duke, Schollmeyer was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the United States.