Earl Paige believes laughter can be the best medicine so he incorporates as much laughter as he can when he helping patients at Jacksonville Medical Center.Paige became JMC’s physical therapist on May 8th and he hit the floor running.
“My philosophy of treatment consists of giving the patient control and responsibility of getting well,” he said. “My No. 1 goal is to get the patient well and, if I couldn’t, to know I did all I could to make that person well.
“When people, especially older people, come here they are often hurting and scared. Many are wondering if this is it … if the next step is the nursing home. I try to get them in a good frame of mind to work hard and get better. If that’s done with humor then that’s what I’ll do. I try to laugh all day long.”
Paige comes to JMC from Gentiva Home Health in Anniston. Before that, he worked at HealthSouth Rehab in Gadsden and with Alabama Physical Rehabilitation Services in Jacksonville.
He and his family came to Calhoun County in 2000.
“We both had parents who were getting older and we wanted to be closer to them,” Paige said. “Actually, my wife’s family lives in Arkansas and my parents live in Georgia. Jacksonville was a pretty good midway point between the two.
“We live far enough away where they don’t have to see us if they don’t want to and close enough where we can get to them within a half-day.”
Paige is a graduate from the University of Tennessee in Memphis. He moved to Arkansas, where he met and married his wife, Jennifer. The Paiges have two children – Blake, 16, and Alexis, 8.
After living in south Alabama and Florida and surviving several hurricanes, the Paiges came to Jacksonville. At one time, Jennifer owned Curves in Jacksonville. Now she is a consultant with several Curves locations.
“The therapist here retired and she was the only one who really knew the process. So my first few weeks have been a frenzy as I have tried to learn how things are done here,” Paige said.
The biggest change is the fact that in the past a physical therapist was only on duty Wednesday and Friday. Now, Paige is at JMC Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
