Instructors
Active advisors and contributors to Matheson Education and Training Solutions
Charles Alexander, OTR/L, CWCE, CEES
Charles Alexander, OT, CEES, CWCE is a licensed Occupational Therapist in the state of Vermont and New York. He Graduated from Utica College in 2002 and has worked primarily in the arena of injury prevention, ergonomics, industrial rehabilitation and FCE. He is a Certified Ergonomic Evaluation Specialist (CEES) and has experience in both large and small business injury prevention efforts and ergonomics. His clinical focus has primarily been working with individuals who have work-related injuries. He works closely with several employers including (Green Mountain Power, Rhino Foods, Perigo, Twincraft, Velco, Bombardier Transportation, Volvo-Nova Bus, Mold-Rite Plastics and City of Burlington VT), in providing a mixture of onsite ergonomics, post offer/pre-employment testing, job analyses, and preventative programs that promote self-treatment and management. He is EPIC certified and is contracted in the legal arena as an expert witness.
Ralph Cheesman, BPE, B.Sc.(OT),Reg.(BC), CWCE
Ralph Cheesman is the CEO and Managing Partner of Re:Function Health Group Inc. He is an Occupational Therapist by training. Ralph has specialized in the provision of Functional Capacity Evaluations within the vocational rehabilitation health sector for 23 years. He has been a clinical instructor within the Occupational Therapy Department at the University of British Columbia and developed the vocational rehabilitation training module for the Masters of Occupational Therapy curriculum. As well, Ralph provides lectures pertaining to FCE services to a wide variety of conferences/organizations – Canadian Defence Lawyers Conference, WorkBC, ICBC Defence Counsel Forum, Victoria Bar Association, Managing Employees with Disabilities Conference, WorkSafeBC vocational rehabilitation consultant training, BCIT, and the Canadian Institute’s Forum on the Employer’s Duty to Accommodate Conference. Ralph provides expert witness testimony in the Supreme Court of BC, at union arbitration hearings, and at WCAT tribunals.
Erica Galipeau, PT, CWCE, CEES
Erica is co-owner of Injury & Health Management Solutions Inc. (IHMS), near Burlington, Vermont. IHMS provides on-site services at such companies as Burton Snowboards, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Bombardier Transportation, Vermont Teddy Bear, Goodrich, and The Lane Press. These services include physical therapy, ergonomic evaluations, all levels of injury prevention and ergonomic training, direct problem solving of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), wellness, Post-Offer employment screenings, FCEs, ADA job analyses, and computer ergonomics.
Louise Lynch, PT, CEES, CWCE
An instructor in industrial rehabilitation around the world, Louise has been guiding patient recovery in orthopedic/manual therapy and industrial rehabilitation and ergonomics for more than 20 years. She specializes in the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders that limit people from working at their maximum potential.
She is a co-owner of Injury & Health Management Solutions Inc. (IHMS), located in Colchester, VT (near Burlington). IHMS provides on-site services at such companies as Burton Snowboards, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Bombardier Transportation, Ben & Jerry’s, State of Vermont Agency of Transportation, and Twincraft Soap. These services include onsite physical therapy, ergonomic evaluation, all levels of injury prevention and ergonomic training, direct problem solving of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), wellness, Post-Offer employment screenings, ADA job analysis, and computer ergonomics.
Tania Percy, BScOT, CWCE
Tania started consulting with Progressive Rehab in 1997. Her practice involves work capacity evaluations, cost of care assessments, and community-based rehabilitation. She also trains and mentors at Progressive Rehab for WorkSafeBC FCEs to ensure quality and consistency.
Tania is highly skilled in dealing with the difficulties that traumatic brain injury sequela can bring to families, particularly when a child or adolescent is involved (she previously worked in adolescent psychiatry and brain injury rehab). During a stint in Ontario, she coordinated legislated multidisciplinary assessments and provided training and mentoring to other team members.
Shannon Smith, Senior Consultant Occupational Therapist | BSc(OT)
Shannon has a wide range of experience that includes community rehabilitation with both adults and children, return to work support, ergonomic assessment, functional and work capacity evaluations, and cost of future care assessments. Her practice has included work in both Canada and the United States. She has experience across a range of diagnoses, including orthopaedic, brain injury, mental health, spinal cord injury, neurological and chronic pain. Additionally, Shannon has post-graduate training in upper extremity function and has qualified as a Certified Hand Therapist, which brings an added level of expertise to her practice for clients with upper extremity injuries. She has been invited by WorkSafeBC to present on functional testing to the hand therapy network in British Columbia who provide treatment services to injured workers.
Lindsey Townsend, Senior Consultant Occupational Therapist | BSc(OT), BSc(Kin), Dip (FCE)
Lindsey joined Progressive Rehab in 1996 after working a number of years at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre in spinal cord injury, brain injury, and child and adolescent services, and for Greater Vancouver Mental Health providing adolescent mental health services. She has developed a community rehabilitation practice that focuses on catastrophic injury and includes children and adolescents. She has expertise in community brain injury rehabilitation and has worked with clients in both the initial rehabilitation phase as well as longer term maintenance phase. She has experience working with clients dealing with mental health difficulties and/or chronic pain. Her additional experience includes occupational therapy services to pre-schoolers with a range of developmental delays and medical conditions.
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Prevention and Wellness
Evalutions
Capacity evaluation has grown internationally and is a versatile skill and service in various areas of Occupational Rehabilitation and will enhance your skills as an evaluator but as a clinician.
Return to Work
When work hardening and work conditioning performed at a high level with measurable results leads to case resolution helping those participating to move forward and reduce the cost of claims.
Mastery Series
Ready to build on university-level training? Our lineup of specialized and advanced training offers the same unrivaled level of quality and support you may already have experienced in our introductory courses.
Certification
At Matheson we view certification and the associated designation as something to be earned through the development of skills and the mastery of processes and documentation.