Since BHSC is full of wonderful staff that are making differences in the lives of those we see every day, we thought it would be fun if you got to know us better! We would like to congratulate Rose Kowalski, Physical Therapist and Lucy Messina, Occupational Therapist (OT) and wish them a long and healthy retirement! We will miss seeing them around BHSC and appreciate everything they have done for us over the years. Let’s learn about Rose and Lucy in this special section honoring their years of commitment and dedication to BHSC.
Lucy has been an occupational therapist at BHSC for over 20 years in various capacities – RSO, contract, and center based! Lucy provides initial evaluations, individual treatment sessions and all of the paperwork including quarterlies/report cards, annual reviews and referrals for her patients. She attended any client meetings and CPSE/CPS (Committee on Preschool Special Education) meetings if they were requested. Lucy maintained her licensure through attending CEU (Continuing Education) courses. She also supervised university students, ordered equipment, given OT workshops and helped train her clients parents.
Rose has been a physical therapist at the BHSC North Street location for almost 13 years! As the senior physical therapist, Rose provides individual physical therapy services for our children who qualify for therapy. She works on improving their strength, balance, coordination and gross motor skills. She also performs physical therapy evaluations for children who are referred to BHSC. Rose has worked at all of BHSC’s different sites and with contracts at the charter schools.
What advice would you give to young people who want to enter into your field?
Lucy Messina: The advice I would tell those desiring to enter the field of occupational therapy is that it is a wonderful field because it’s very diverse. Pay is lacking in non-profit pediatrics, but good in other areas.
Rose Kowalski: I have had many students shadow me to see if they would be interested in my field and I always tell them how rewarding it is. Physical therapists are trained to work in many areas in the medical field. They can choose orthopedics, geriatrics (working in nursing homes), hospital settings, private practice or pediatrics which is what I chose to specialize in. So they can find work in any of these areas that they find they have a passion. They will find it rewarding to help their patients heal and achieve their goals to be healthy and active again after an injury, surgery or an illness. It is a field that continues to grow and they will always find work they enjoy.
What is a challenge you’ve faced (and hopefully overcome) in your position?
Lucy: One of the challenges that I have faced and overcome is having minimal computer skills. With the help of my family and the wonderful IT department at BHSC, I have improved but have a long way to go. When I started as an OT 40 years ago, we had secretaries to type our reports so needless to say I’ve had to learn a lot in the last 20 years of work. Get all the training that you can before marriage because it’s so very difficult when you have a family.
Rose: Our job is physically demanding so it helps to stay as fit as possible and work on our own health and well-being. I have been taking yoga classes once a week to help me stay healthy.
How do you measure success?
Lucy: I measure success by how content I am at my job. I don’t have a master’s degree or other credentials added to my OTR/L. I enjoyed supervising students from the local universities and teaching parents during home therapy. I loved seeing the children progress at their own pace, it brought such joy to my heart to see and to feel this and the personal connection between families and the children.
Rose: I measure success by seeing our happy families. When I get a thank you note from a parent who sees how their child is maturing and developing with their gross motor skills that allows them then to play at home with siblings and parents and the goals they have achieved.
What is your favorite memory at BHSC?
Lucy: My favorite memory at BHSC is the WONDERFUL STAFF. We really have an AWESOME team. Everyone is so helpful and encouraging. I will be missing this the most!
Rose: I have many wonderful memories that involve children achieving their goals. Children who for example weren’t supposed to be able to catch or engage to play a game and then subsequently learn to play catch and participate in games. Children who don’t understand how to jump and they learn to jump for the first time or when they learn to pedal a tricycle and I am able to inform the parents that they have learned these skills that they didn’t think they would be able to perform. The parents are so happy and report back and write thank you notes to me. It is very gratifying.
How have you grown during your time at BHSC?
Lucy: I have grown in my computer skills but still have a long way to go. I have also learned about and now use the DIR Floortime approach, 2nd Step, and CPI (Crisis Prevention Training).
Rose: I have grown significantly in by skills to use the DIR Floortime approach to therapy that is offered to us here at BHSC. It has improved the way I engage with the children and I love the mentoring that is provided. By using the DIR Floortime approach, it has helped us engage and develop wonderful relationships with the children and their families.
What skills have you acquired?
Lucy: The skills that I have acquired are increased organization in both my work and personal life, being punctual to appointments, accountability, and empathy to the needs of others.
Rose: BHSC has provided me continued education to learn the skills to properly implement and apply the DIR Floortime approach to treating my patients. This approach compliments my physical therapy education and has made my treatment sessions more successful in helping my patients achieve their goals.
What did you like best about your career at BHSC?
Lucy: What I have liked best about my career at BHSC is the emotional and professional growth regarding IT difficulties and many opportunities for attending continued education workshops.
Rose: I have loved the people I have worked with! I have felt like we are a large close family. When I started, our agency was smaller but even as we have grown, we have maintained good communication with the different sites. I have worked for all of the managers and staff at the different sites and have even worked with our contracts. They were all welcoming and very friendly at each location. We also have an excellent leadership team, who lead by example with their own hard work and they have motivated me to want to do my best. When you have leadership that have high expectations, it helps staff to rise to meet those expectations.
How has BHSC changed since you were initially hired?
Lucy: I started working at BHSC in January 2000 and the type of child I have worked with has changed. I started with 90% of my caseload being language impaired with learning disabilities to currently having 75% of my caseload being on the Autism Spectrum.
Rose: Due to the new technology that has been implemented, the way we do our time sheets and our documentation is much easier. I feel that we have an excellent IT department that has kept us up to date with technology and have been very helpful with any questions I have had.
What is your greatest professional strength?
Lucy: My greatest professional strength was my longevity at the same location and profession. I’m so fortunate “to have found my niche” at BHSC.
Rose: I am positive and I feel I have good people skills that have allowed me to have great working relationships with my co-workers.
What are your retirement plans, if any?
Lucy: My retirement plans are to clean-out my house of 28 years that has accumulated way too much and to babysit my 2 grandchildren. One attends the Cantalician Center, so I’m sure I’ll be involved with his treatment. Also, I would like to travel to Florida to see my older sister.
Rose: I will be helping to take care of my mother and hopefully do some traveling again once it is safe to do so after the Pandemic subsides and hopefully ends.
