Back in the 1980’s, Susan Hydle and Jane Letsinger were working as Occupational Therapists at Colorado’s rehabilitation specialty center, Craig Hospital.  They began to notice a “gap” between what patients were able to practice at the hospital, and what actually happened when they got home…and the idea for O.T. Plus was born.  O.T. Plus was officially incorporated in 1984, in response to the need for comprehensive, collaborative, and functional home/community-based rehabilitation programs that smoothed the barriers between the hospital environment and real-life challenges (the necessary “next step” in a rehabilitation program!). Programs were customized for each individual client as they tried to return to their own homes, communities, jobs and friends.  These programs continued to progress clients toward meaningful productive activities, and problem-solve long-term or lingering issues that clients with catastrophic injuries might experience.  O.T. Plus was the first company in Colorado to introduce treatment programs of this kind.   

Eventually, the Occupational Therapy treatment programs were augmented by the cognitive and language expertise of a Speech/Language Pathologist, and the long-term physical and wellness issues focused on by a Physical Therapist.  O.T. Plus considers the ‘PLUS’ part of our name not only with this incorporation of Speech/Language Therapy and Physical Therapy, but now also the inclusion of many associated treatment modalities such as:  visual and vestibular rehabilitation, dry needling, personal training, mind/body wellness, home evaluations, functional capacity evaluations, return-to-work evaluations, social system/benefit evaluations, and therapeutic groups that include the use of music, yoga, tai chi, and writing to help clients take “the next step.”  Many of these newer treatment strategies were suggested by, or developed to specifically address, issues that we have seen our clients continue to struggle with over the years.    

We most often serve individuals with physical and/or cognitive difficulties resulting from mild to severely disabling catastrophic injuries like: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), and multiple or complicated trauma.  However, any client who needs a strong, coordinated team approach is likely to benefit from our services.   

We provide direct therapy services and consultation to individual clients, private and public rehabilitation providers, insurance companies, and attorneys.  Our duration of services ranges short-term to long-term, and services may be provided at any time during the healing and recovery process.  

O.T. Plus is now owned by Barb Minden, MPT and Kristi Staniszewski, RPT.  Between them, they offer over 48 years of experience working with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Both of their careers also started at Craig Hospital, where they learned the importance of a strong and well-connected team approach to rehabilitation programs.  With their compassion and overall commitment to “whole-patient” wellness, they have been able to continue the work started by Jane and Susie, and help O.T. Plus grow to serve a wide variety of clients throughout the entire Colorado community.   

As of 2017, O.T. Plus employs 14 professional and licensed therapists with varying disciplines to better meet the needs of our patients.