Tammy Miller and Gail McGaughy from On With Life in Ankeny visited the club on March 21st and gave us a rundown on their organization:
On With Life was started by 8 families, all with loved ones that had suffered a stroke or traumatic brain injury. The families were frustrated that there were no good long term care options for them, so they started On With Life.
- On With Life provided primarily in-patient rehabilitation services until 2011 when they started an outpatient clinic in a 5 bedroom modular home erected at their site. In 2015, an addition was added to their inpatient building and this June they plan on opening a new standalone 20,000 sq ft outpatient clinic in Ankeny.
- On With Life is the only provider of outpatient care for people recovering from strokes, traumatic brain injuries, and other neurological injuries and conditions in the state. They currently operate 3 clinics (in Ankeny, Coralville, and Polk City).
- The Ankeny clinic currently serves about 1,000 patients per year. However, with the new Ankeny facility, they expect this to increase to at least 2,000 patients per year at the Ankeny site alone.
- Future growth outside of Ankeny will likely be in the form of smaller “pop-up” clinics.
- Programs offered by On With Life include:
- Outpatient neurological rehabilitation.
- Parkinson’s treatment
- Pelvic Floor Clinic
- Neuro psychiatrist on-staff
- Comprehensive concussion care
- Healthy aging program
- Driver rehabilitation program.
- On With Life is a not-for-profit organization. Donations made to On With Life are not used for operating expenses or staff salaries. Donations are used for the following:
- New equipment
- Gas cards for families that need to drive to and from clinic from a distance
- “Family Houses” for long term housing for families of those in treatment. Gail mentioned that they will be building new houses soon and need volunteers!!
- Blood pressure cuffs for outpatient stroke patients that have undergone rehab.
- Open house for the new facility is on June 15, 2023.
- Annual fundraiser dinner is on September 23, 2023.