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Prosthetic firm expands services to Steubenville

STEUBENVILLE – Western Reserve Prosthetics and Orthotics is now seeing patients in the Steubenville area, at their homes if necessary or by appointment at Trinity Medical Centers East and West.

Based in Austintown, the practice was founded by Rick Grope in 2001.

Grope, now a board-certified, licensed prosthetist/orthotist, had a tryout scheduled with the Texas Rangers when a 3,000-pound steel beam fell on him while he was working in a machine shop.

Doctors were unable to save his leg, which they amputated three years later.

Over the course of his 30-year career in prosthetics, Grope has helped more than 3,000 individuals receive artificial limbs. One of the first was Bob Olmstead, a Lisbon resident who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident at the age of 18.

He went on to graduate from high school and worked at Youngstown Limb for several years as a practitioner, where he learned the importance of the relationship between the prosthetic practitioner and the patient, as well as a good-fitting artificial limb.

“Grope’s technical knowledge and accessibility combined with his strong desire to see his patients live the fullest life possible is what motivates him to accept nothing but optimum results for his patients,” Olmstead said.

Dr. Milton Swaby, a physiatrist with Trinity Health System in Steubenville, says Grope has worked with several of his patients and “his knowledge and skills combined with his willingness to work with the patient until the fit is correct and optimum mobility is achieved is remarkable.”

WRPO is a full service orthotics and prosthetics company offering prosthetics, orthotics, mastectomy products and diabetic shoes. The practice has a licensed pedorthist and certified prosthetic/orthotic assistants. The business offers a free initial consultation with one of the specialists.

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