As the new Director of Physical Therapy for Seton Medical Harker Heights (SMCHH), Christopher Egizio, PT, MPT, was very excited to return to Texas. “I am originally from Joliet, Illinois but am connected to Texas because I attended Hardin-Simmons University for physical therapy in Abilene, Texas,” he shares. “After completing PT school, I moved back to Illinois, where my wife and I got married shortly thereafter. I always wanted to come back to Texas and felt that now was the right time with the age of our children.” Chris is also thrilled to be apart of the SMCHH team. “I was initially attracted to SMCHH and the Killeen area because SMCHH has a great reputation and I know the community is vibrant with its military background and military influence. I also could not be more impressed with the rehabilitation team here, they really are second to none.”
Several family members of Chris’ family are physical therapists so he was encouraged by them to pursue it as a career. Chris was also influenced after witnessing his Grandfather go through rehabilitation and physical therapy after suffering a stroke. “I was only ten years old, but seeing him go through his recovery certainly inspired me to pursue physical therapy as a career,” he shares. “The real draw to being a physical therapist is being able to help people and to positively impact their lives. I also view being a leader in healthcare as an extension of that. You may not be able to directly help patients but by running an organized and efficient team of healthcare providers, you are helping more people.”
Three weeks have passed since Chris started his new position and he could not be more impressed with his team and the staff at SMCHH. “It’s just a great group to work with and I can’t imagine a more qualified staff,” he says. “They have just been so welcoming and have helped me get acquainted. The team overall at Seton has been incredibly welcoming and willing to help, advise or point me in the right direction. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that. It’s a really great feeling.”
Chris is also excited to begin his work at SMCHH during National Physical Therapy Month. “The American Physical Therapy Association is all about moving forward and so that is our focus here at SMCHH,” he shares. “We want to get our patients moving again and we think our outpatient therapy clinic does a great job of that. We have access to a warm water therapy pool, so even if our patients aren’t able to tolerate moving on land, they can use the pool, which is just a fantastic option. We also have a really unique partnership with the Armed Services YMCA in Harker Heights with our outpatient rehabilitation clinic located directly behind their facility. Having this clinic available to our patients is incredible. There really aren’t many facilities that have that support within the community and from the community. This clinic and partnership is still very new but we believe there some great opportunities to expand our services to meet our community’s needs. Overall, our main focus is to get our patients moving again, and that is what we do best here at SMCHH.”
To learn more about Seton Medical Center Harker Heights’ rehabilitation services, please click here.