GRRL Grand Rapids Press ArticleGrand Rapids Press |
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Founded on skill, friendship and a couple of mortgages, their rehabilitation service is thriving. They were two divorced women with seven children between them. But Judy Cloherty (now Mayfield) and Martha Frost were willing to mortgage their homes and take a chance to start a rehabilitation service in Grand Rapids. Cloherty, a registered nurse and insurance rehabilitation specialist, and Frost, a social worker and rehabilitation counselor, had known each other for years. The friendship continued into the workplace when the two worked in their respective fields at Injury Management and Rehabilitation Corp. That was in 1984 when they decided to strike out on their own. But while the research was done, a line of credit secured and their homes on the line, they decided to wait. Injury Management had just been sold to Crawford Health and Rehabilitation Services, a division of Crawford and Co. Insurance Adjusters. "There was a cycle of insurance companies centralizing their claims offices and also a trend to deal with national rehab services," said Frost. "We wanted to do case management, but didn't think we could survive as a small company. At the time, we also needed more security with an employer." Frost and Cloherty bided their time, learning more and establishing networks only a large national firm could provide. But then they made their move. "We know we worked well together and didn't want to (stay) with a larger company," said Cloherty. "We started Grand River Rehabilitation, Ltd. in the bedroom of Martha's house in 1989." Neither one thought the fledgling company would fail or their friendship suffer since changes and new beginnings have always been apart of their adult lives. A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Cloherty earned her nursing diploma from St. Elizabeth's Hospital School of Nursing. She worked in hospital and private duty nursing with spinal cord injury patients. In 1972, Cloherty and her husband moved to Grand Rapids, (Michigan), where she retired from nursing for 10 years to raise four children. "But I did a lot of volunteer work and first met Martha in 1976 at a (Butterworth) hospital guild meeting, " Cloherty said. After her divorce, Cloherty went back to school and in 1982 received a bachelor's degree in allied health and communications from Western Michigan University and was looking for a job. Frost was raised in Illinois and attended Kalamazoo College, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree, and met her future husband. The couple went on to the University of Michigan, where Frost got a master's degree in social work. |
She worked in Washtenaw County as a school social worker. She moved to Grand Rapids in 1972, where she stopped working to raise three children until 1980, when she divorced, and went to work for Injury Management as a rehabilitation counselor. In 1982, Frost suggested her friend apply for a nursing job at Injury Management, where Frost was a case management supervisor. During their years there, both earned certifications as insurance rehabilitation specialists, dealing with return-to-work programs and workers' comp assessments and medical and vocational case management. Cloherty left in 1987 to work as a marketing director for a pilot project in Grand Rapids called Work Reconditioning Systems, which developed on-site simulated work and home settings for injured employees. "It helped me develop many contacts in insurance and business and was a key to starting our firm," Cloherty said. "A lot of people advised me to start my own company, and I called Martha." Grand River Rehabilitation, Ltd. finally was born. The two women sent out 320 notices and had two cases before their first week as partners was over. By 1990, they moved into an office at Cascade Country Square on 28th Street SE, hired a secretary and vocational counselor. "We had projected about 40 case referrals and instead we had 66 by the end of our first year," Frost recalled. The firm continued to grow with 13 specialists in a variety of nursing, rehabilitation and special education areas. Frost and Cloherty now have satellite offices in Mount Pleasant and Traverse City and in March opened a second full office in Kalamazoo. The biggest challenges come in "getting all the pieces to fit together" when it comes to working as a team with employers, insurance companies, injured workers and their families. Most are anxious to reduce workers' compensation costs. "Most people can go back to work in some capacity, but the employer has to be willing to put them to work," Cloherty said. "We're finding employers are much more educated about adapting work facilities and getting employees an earlier return to work." Grand River Rehab started the Return to School program, which provides case management and consultation for severely injured children. The partners also are developing the Grand River Senior Care Management program to help the growing number of people caring for elderly parent and relatives. The company also offers brain injury case management, vocational assessments and ergonomic evaluations and consultations. Away from work, Frost and Cloherty enjoy sailing and relax by spending time on the water. Both are grandmothers, with Frost now raising her 5-year-old grandson. Cloherty is a member of the Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus. And they're still good friends after 20 years. Top of Page |
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