Athletico Announces Winners of Patient Satisfaction Award in Memory of Zach Gregory

Athletico announces the winners of the 2013 Zach Gregory Patient Satisfaction Award in honor of Zach Gregory, who died during the Chicago 13.1 Marathon on June 4, 2011.

Gregory, who worked as a physical therapist at Athletico’s Skokie facility, made a huge impact on all those who were lucky enough to share this life with him. The award was created to honor Gregory and his commitment to his patients and their satisfaction. It is awarded annually to the Athletico clinic and clinician who achieves the highest patient satisfaction score across the company. The scores are generated from measurable patient satisfaction data that Athletico collects from patients using a third-party outcomes system.

David Kolzow accepts this year’s Zach Gregory Patient Satisfaction Award.

The clinic award was presented to Athletico South Elgin and the individual award to David Kolzow, PT, MPT, CKTP. Kolzow is a physical therapist at Athletico’s South Elgin facility.

Grant Koster, PT, ATC, a Regional Manager at Athletico who hired Zach Gregory, presented the annual award. “This is one of the most rewarding things I do each year.  It allows myself and Athletico to honor Zach’s memory and reward the people who are most committed to patient satisfaction at Athletico, just as Zach was,” said Koster.

Last year, Zach’s parents drove in for the inaugural presentation of the award in 2012.   During what Koster calls “one of the most emotional moments of his adult life” he stood by the side of Zach’s parents while they addressed the entire Athletico management team.  “I’ll never forget what his mother said,” says Koster. “The day Zach was born was the happiest day of my life, the day he died was my saddest, and today, by honoring Zach this way, is my proudest.”

The award serves as a reminder to all Athletico staff about the importance of connecting with patients and differentiating their level of service. A perpetual plaque is housed at Athletico’s corporate office to signify a place of remembrance and celebration and a commitment to patient care that can be seen for many years to come.

Athletico also made a $10,000 donation in Gregory’s name in 2012 to Chicago Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Education Service (CCARES), a Chicago-based non-profit whose mission is to increase survival of sudden cardiac arrest victims in Chicago by increasing bystander CPR through education and awareness training.

In addition to the award and donation, Athletico employees continue to find ways to honor and remember Gregory. The Athletico Skokie facility is home to a beautiful framed picture of him as a permanent memory for the lives he touched during his short career as a physical therapist. Athletico runners have run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in his honor as that was his ultimate goal, and employees at Athletico Skokie as well as Gregory’s family and friends have run the Allstate Life Insurance Chicago 13.1 Marathon on the South Side in his honor.