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Doctor's dream now a reality
Dr. Anne Truong wanted to create a one-stop center for those in need of physical rehabilitation
Date published: 7/10/2008
BY JIM HALL Dr. Anne Truong had an idea for a specialized medical practice, then worked for five years to make it a reality. Truong envisioned placing all of the traditional therapies used in physical medicine under one roof. These included aquatic therapy, ultrasound, manipulation, massage, injection, exercise, prosthetics, the use of heat and cold, and even acupuncture. As she put it, "I wanted to make it a mall for physical medicine and rehab." The Truong Rehabilitation Center in Spotsylvania County is the expression of that idea. Opened nine months ago, the center is where Truong and her staff treat patients in pain or those who hope to restore lost function after an injury or illness. "Our mission is to serve the patient with a medical condition that compromises them," she said. Truong is a physiatrist, or a rehabilitation physician. The United States has about 7,500 physiatrists, according to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Physiatrists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of problems of the muscles, joints and bones. Truong and Dr. Jeffrey Filiberto, the medical director at the HealthSouth rehabilitation hospital, are believed to be the only ones in Fredericksburg. Truong arrived in the area in 2000 when she was recruited by MediCorp Health System to be medical director for the rehabilitation departments at Mary Washington Hospital and Carriage Hill nursing home. She left the company in 2005 to set up her private practice. For her $3.5 million center, Truong bought a parcel on U.S. 1 in the Lee's Hill area and erected a two-story building. On the second floor of the building, she leases space to two companies, one that does traditional physical rehabilitation and another that makes prosthetic and orthotic devices. Her offices, and a 16-by-20 heated therapy pool, are located on the first floor. Truong is a native of Vietnam and the youngest of six children. Her father was chief of police in what was then called Saigon. The family fled the country in 1975, when she was 8 years old, and eventually settled in San Jose, Calif. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and received her medical degree from the University of Nevada. She did her internship at the University of California at Irvine and her residency at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She and her husband, Bao, have two children. Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 7/10/2008
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