{"id":12495,"date":"2025-06-13T07:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=12495"},"modified":"2025-06-13T07:25:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T12:25:00","slug":"a-healthy-partnership-uwl-grads-bring-wealth-of-knowledge-compassion-to-tomah-health-rehab-services","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/a-healthy-partnership-uwl-grads-bring-wealth-of-knowledge-compassion-to-tomah-health-rehab-services\/","title":{"rendered":"A healthy partnership: UWL grads bring wealth of knowledge, compassion to Tomah Health rehab services"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
There\u2019s a strong connection between UW-La Crosse and Tomah Health, especially when it comes to the hospital\u2019s Rehabilitation Services Department — with nearly 75% of the department being UWL graduates.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a strong connection between UW-La Crosse and Tomah Health, especially when it comes to the hospital\u2019s Rehabilitation Services Department.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, many UWL grads have made their way to\u00a0Tomah Health<\/a>, where they\u2019ve built meaningful careers helping patients regain strength, mobility and independence. Today, nearly 75% of Tomah Health\u2019s Rehabilitation Services Department (RSD) is made up of UWL alumni.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has been instrumental in consistently supplying qualified professionals for our Rehabilitation Services Department,\u201d says Tomah Health CEO Derek Daly. \u201cThe relationship with UWL has led to the hiring of a number of graduates who help us provide high-quality rehab services to our patients.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alexander Morgan, \u201920, is among the network of UWL alumni working within Tomah Health\u2019s RSD. Morgan earned a master’s degree in\u00a0occupational therapy<\/a>\u00a0and now works as an outpatient occupational therapist.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy days usually include working with about eight or nine patients, which may include evaluations, setting up treatment plans, using evidence-based interventions, and of course, documenting everything,\u201d Morgan says. \u201cNo two days are exactly the same, but that\u2019s what keeps it interesting.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Morgan says his time at UWL helped him feel ready to step into his role from day one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUWL gave me the knowledge and skills I needed to hit the ground running,\u201d Morgan says. \u201cThe classes, hands-on learning and community-based parts of the program all prepared me to provide direct patient care and tailor that care to meet each person\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the technical training, Morgan says UWL\u2019s program helped him build key soft skills, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI developed a lot of personal and professional skills at UWL,\u201d Morgan says. \u201cThose skills have been really valuable when working with patients and teaming up with coworkers from different backgrounds.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That level of preparation is one reason Tomah Health continues to turn to UWL as a trusted pipeline for talent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization has had a longstanding partnership with UWL as a clinical education site,\u201d says Tim Kortbein, director of Rehabilitation Services at Tomah Health. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked with a lot of UWL students during their internships and clinical placements. Some of them go on to become full-time employees, which is a huge win. It\u2019s been a great relationship, and we\u2019re excited to keep working together to provide top-quality rehab care in our community.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe value the partnership with UWL and look forward to a healthy future together,\u201d Daly echoes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For UWL students considering a future in healthcare, Morgan offers simple but meaningful advice: Take it all in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTake advantage of every opportunity UWL offers,\u201d Morgan says. \u201cThe more experience you get, the better prepared you\u2019ll be to apply what you know and build strong relationships with patients and colleagues. And don\u2019t be afraid to make mistakes \u2014 it\u2019s all part of learning and growing as a healthcare professional.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Written by<\/p>\n

Link to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a strong connection between UW-La Crosse and Tomah Health, especially when it comes to the hospital\u2019s Rehabilitation Services Department.\u00a0\u00a0 Over the years, many UWL grads have made their way to\u00a0Tomah Health, where they\u2019ve built meaningful careers helping patients regain strength, mobility and independence. Today, nearly 75% of Tomah Health\u2019s Rehabilitation Services Department (RSD) is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-12495","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/12495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=12495"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwtest.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=12495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}