Mission, Vision, and Values

Our Story

Rafael E. Salazar II, MHS, OTR/L

Owner

Well, I guess this story starts with a vision of what healthcare should be. As I’ve written about in our Manifesto, healthcare should be about people, not numbers, not technical jargon, not even cool, cutting-edge technology & tools (though we like to use those things when applicable). In fact, my 2022 book Better Outcomes: A Guide to Humanizing Healthcare, lays out in detail my vision for a human-centered approach to healthcare.

When I started my career as an occupational therapist in 2012, I had no idea where that career would take me. I got into this profession because, when I was 16 years old, I fell and landed on a glass bottle, cutting tendons and nerves in my hand. I spent the summer before my senior year in high school in an outpatient PT & OT clinic recovering from surgery. That experience opened my eyes to healthcare as a profession, as a calling, as a vocation. I set my sights on a career that would give me the opportunity to help people overcome whatever pain, limitation, or diagnosis they found themselves experiencing.

My career has taken anything but a linear path. I started off after graduation managing the OT caseload at a couple different nursing homes. From there I went to Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, where things really got interesting. I worked in the outpatient specialty rehab program. Basically, everyone who had a shoulder, elbow, or hand surgery came to our clinic. Anyone who experienced chronic pain and didn’t find relief from surgery, injections, or other invasive management strategies came to us. We saw the most complex, challenging, and serious cases that came through that hospital system…And I loved it! Working with these patients opened up my eyes to the reality of healthcare, to the huge limitations that plague our traditional way of looking at disease, pain, and recover, and pushed me to learn about a biopsychosocial approach to treatment.

Fast forward a few years, and I left the VA to begin consulting for the state of Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities. My team and I helped transition people of out state institutions and facilities to living a safe, healthy and engaged lives in local communities throughout Georgia. This work allowed me to grow in my understanding and appreciation for what we called “Integrated Clinical Support” —basically, clinicians working together as a team to help one person. I had worked on some smaller projects like this at the VA, but doing it for the state showed me the possibilities of providing services to patients as part of a team, not just a solo clinician or specialist.

In the time I was consulting for the state, I also started Rehab U Practice Solutions, a marketing and consulting firm that helps healthcare clinics & organizations implement this sort of integrated, holistic, biopsychosocial approach in their daily practice. I also started The Better Outcomes Show, a podcast that explore the possibilities of a new healthcare.

Despite all of this exciting work, one thing was missing: I wanted to get back to my roots, treating patients in the clinic and being able to build real, meaningful relationships with them as they navigated their paths to recovery. So, when the opportunity to purchase ProActive came up and ad OT to an already thriving PT clinic, I had to jump on it!

I’m forever grateful to the clinicians that started this place in 2011, Janet & Diane, and for their original vision of individualized, person-centered treatment. They left a great foundation in place for us to continue to serve patients in a way that makes them feel heard, understood, and valued.

Anyways, that’s our story!