“There’s no feeling like seeing our patients walk out of a session being like wow, this is incredible and I have hope.”
- Ericka Saito, REHAB Physical Therapist
We Are REHAB: Ericka’s Story
As a physical therapist at REHAB, helping patients succeed is my greatest joy. Whenever I walk with a patient after their session, I feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Not only am I able to help people, but I’m able to do this important work in a place that’s special to me.
REHAB is special to me for so many reasons. I am an Oahu girl and I know how valuable it is to have a place like REHAB right in our community. I had the opportunity to go away to the Mainland for college and grad school, but I knew I wanted to come home for work. REHAB gave me an opportunity to do so. Finally, closest to my heart, I was an outpatient intern at REHAB and it introduced me to this amazing place and further inspired me in my career path.
As an intern, I had the privilege of working with Cheri Teranishi-Hashimoto, REHAB’s Therapy Director and Program Director of Women’s Health & Cancer Rehabilitation, and the team of professionals who are experts in their field. Cheri was a mentor to me. She has a wealth of knowledge and changes patients lives with her expertise, knowledge and kindness. That guidance was a huge part of the reason I wanted to work at REHAB.
I’m proud of the work we get to do every day. I work with patients on pelvic floor, orthopedic, and pulmonary recovery therapy and see the impact we make on patients’ health and recovery. All of our services make a huge difference for people and I’m grateful that I’m able to support the community in the work that we do together.
Ericka was recently featured in a REHAB commercial! Watch it here:
Check out our annual report for more inspiring stories and to learn more about REHAB: https://www.rehabhospital.org/about-rehab.