RehabVisions has been around now for over 28 years. While we have many long-standing employees, there are some who have come and gone who helped to build this company to what it is today. That is certainly true of Janel Foote, a former RehabVisions employee, who died in late March at the age of 60.

Janel Foote

A long-time friend of Joel Larmore, CEO, and his wife Sharon, Janel was a hospital pharmacist, mother of three, wife of a busy OB/Gyn physician, and living in Hastings, Nebraska when she came to work for RehabVisions in 1984. After a conversation with Joel, it was decided that she would come to work with us as Director of Marketing and assist in growing our hospital contract therapy business.

The fact that Janel was 150 miles from the home office in Omaha did not pose a problem. In fact, it proved to be mutually beneficial. Janel had her commercial pilot’s license and a plane at her disposal. She loved to fly, and she could use her plane to get to meetings with potential clients all over the Midwest.

From the very start, Janel was a dynamo. She had this incredible enthusiasm and energy, and everyone immediately loved her. There was no real blueprint for the position, but she hit the ground running and to her, nothing was impossible.

Janel was responsible for signing over 25 hospital accounts including some we still serve today. Because of her plane, she opened up markets we wouldn’t have been able to without her. She was a natural at selling rehab services because her personality put people at ease. She was knowledgeable about healthcare and comfortable in a hospital setting. It was a recipe for success.

Plus, it was a novelty. In a then male-dominated industry, here was this energetic, confident woman who literally flew from meeting to meeting. It was truly a perfect fit at a perfect time.

Janel only worked at RehabVisions for about five years. But her death has given us pause as to the real impact she had on our business. I still marvel at her ability to balance it all – being a pilot, married to a doctor, raising three children, and being highly involved serving on boards and such.

We, at RehabVisions, were truly the beneficiaries of her energy and passion. She was responsible for growing areas that have evolved into core centers of our business. Janel Foote will always be an integral part of the RehabVisions story and a friend who is truly missed.