Rehab Deserts: Why Patients Can’t Access PT (And How To Fix It)

Physical therapy can’t survive on “me, me, me” messaging. Dr. Lisa VanHoose breaks down why rehabilitation deserts are growing, why gatekeeping admissions is fueling the PT workforce shortage, and what it looks like to rebuild the profession around community, access, and relational capacity—not just credentials and productivity.

We talk rural retention, community-based rehab, why “bootstraps” is a myth in healthcare design, and how the Ujima Institute is building real-world mobility support through food access, youth training, health literacy, and neighbor-to-neighbor infrastructure.

Chapters

00:00 Neighbors Shape Health
07:55 Admissions Beyond GPA
13:40 Rehab Desert Reality
22:35 Systems Over Bootstraps
30:20 Keep PTs In Practice
43:20 Ujima In Action

Guest + Resources

Dr. Lisa VanHoose (she/her)

Ujima Institute (community-rooted health + education)

Mentions: Ikigai, Blue Zones research, PCORI (patient-centered research model), community-based rehab, telehealth/remote monitoring, “Nothing About Us Without Us”

Ujima Institute: https://www.ujimainstitute.com/