Eric Reinhold: Physical therapist offers home care
Eric Reinhold cannot go out to dinner without someone recognizing him.
He’s not a celebrity or a popular athlete, but someone who makes the lives of Cape Region residents better.
Reinhold came to Lewes in 1998, taking his first job out of college at Southern Delaware Physical Therapy on Savannah Road. For 17 years, he stretched, massaged and mended many of the area’s hobbled. But after nearly two decades as a physical therapist, it was time for a change. Last year, Reinhold teamed with a college friend to open a Delaware branch of Summit Orthopaedic Home Care, the only home care agency in Delaware with an orthopedic specialty.
“It made sense,” he said. “You take the relationships you have with the doctors you’ve developed for almost 20 years and the relationships you have with the community, and you provide this specialty care after say a joint replacement or spine surgery.”
The company provides full-service care, with physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses and social workers on staff.
“Patients have a choice on who they can use after surgeries,” he said. “We’re going above and beyond to provide a concierge level of service.”
Reinhold grew up in Glendora, N.J., just outside of Philadelphia. He was a baseball player in high school, and during that time he was introduced to the world of sports medicine through the school’s athletic trainer. The trainer developed a student trainer program at the school, and Reinhold took advantage for three years when not playing baseball.
“I always liked the world of sports,” he said. “I liked being out on the field. I knew pretty quickly, though, that I wasn’t going to be a top-level athlete. This was a way to stay engaged.”
After graduation, Reinhold attended Marietta College in Ohio, majoring in sports medicine and athletic training. In 1995, he interned with the Philadelphia Eagles. The 1995 season was the first for head coach Ray Rhodes and star free agent Ricky Watters and the last in Philadelphia for star quarterback Randall Cunningham.
Reinhold worked from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week in 90-degree heat. His job covered everything from taping ankles and massaging players to filling water bottles and carrying equipment. It was during his internship that Eagles’ head trainer Otho Davis gave him advice that changed the course of his career.
“He said to me, ‘Son, if you’ve got the grades, physical therapy is really a much more appealing job than an athletic trainer,’” he said. “I definitely saw that because it was hard work and long hours.”
So the next summer when Reinhold began graduate studies at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, his focus was on physical therapy. It was at Hahnemann that he met his wife, Sarah, who was also studying to become a physical therapist.
Upon graduation, Reinhold and his wife blanketed the region for in search of a job, sending a resumé to every physical therapy clinic in Delaware and Maryland. When he came to Lewes for his interview with Southern Delaware Physical Therapy, he was sold.
“The minute they drove me down Second Street and made that right turn and I saw the Little League field on the water, I was like, ‘This is it. This is where I want to be,” he said.
Reinhold is now a board member for Lewes Little League, and he has coached his son, Josh, 12, for eight years. Reinhold also has a daughter Jenna, who’s 8.
In his 17 years at SDPT, Reinhold said, he tried to create a fun environment for his patients.
“People didn’t want to be there,” he said. “They had surgery, they got hurt or they had some kind of disease, so while they’re there for say an hour of therapy, we made it fun. It was a good time in the clinic. People left feeling better and smiling.”
In 2001, he became the director of rehab for several SDPT locations in southern Delaware.
Then, about two years ago, a college friend told him about orthopedic home care being offered in Ohio. Reinhold thought it was a great idea and jumped at the opportunity to bring this type of care to Delaware. Reinhold is one of three co-owners of the Delaware branch. Summit has been operating for seven years in Ohio and has been recognized as a top 500 home care agency. Reinhold said he’s using the same model for his Delaware expansion. Summit is licensed in Kent and Sussex counties.
The last year has been about getting through all the state and federal regulations, including becoming Medicare accredited. In the last six months, Reinhold said, he and his staff have seen about 100 patients.
Whether it was in the physical therapy clinic or working with patients in their homes, Reinhold said, he loves what he does for a living.
“It’s a rewarding job,” he said. “You get to see people when they’re in pain, unable to move, and you rehab them over the matter of weeks, sometimes months, and you get them to the point where they can function again; sometimes that’s just going out for a walk with their grandchild and sometimes it’s so they can get back to playing pickleball.”
