How IMAC partnered with professional athletes to bring chronic pain relief without surgery or opioids to Wall Street.
IMAC Holdings employees, family and friends celebrate the Initial Public Offering at a Nasdaq Bell Ringing Ceremony in Times Square.
The story behind IMAC Nation – How did professional athletes get involved?
We all love a good documentary, such as a “behind the scenes” look at how a superstar rose to fame, an invention that changed the world and a battle that was won in the trenches. This is the story of how a small medical clinic in Kentucky turned into IMAC Nation and landed on Wall Street. It all started when the Wizard himself, Ozzie Smith, walked into IMAC Regeneration Centers looking for chronic pain relief without surgery or opioids. IMAC Founder, Dr. Matt Wallis, had no idea that the clinic he started in his hometown of Paducah, KY 15 years ago, was about to go big. Please enjoy the first blog article in the series: IMAC Nation.
This is a really good part – watch the video to find out why!
IMAC Nation starts with MLB St. Louis Cardinals, 13x Golden Glove Winner, Hall-of-Famer, Ozzie Smith
In the fall of 2015, the Wizard walked in to IMAC in Paducah. Many years of back flips, dives and swings had taken a toll on Ozzie’s back and his doctor had recommended surgery. He did not want surgery or the opioid prescription that accompanies invasive orthopedic procedures. That’s when he found out about IMAC. Fast-forward a couple of months later. He had such good results – without surgery or opioids – his first thought was taking IMAC to the people of St. Louis where opioid overdoses were at an all time high. “The most important thing about St. Louis is the people,” Ozzie told us. “They are very giving people and they deserve positive things to happen in this community. I am committed to helping the great people of St. Louis have a wonderful future.” Ozzie Smith IMAC Center of Chesterfield, MO opened in the spring of 2016 and began the first big city expansion toward IMAC becoming known nationwide. Since 2016, Ozzie Smith Centers expanded to St. Peters adding another St. Louis location, and then most recently, four additional clinics in the Springfield, MO area.
Experiencing chronic pain? Click here for a FREE phone consult with an IMAC doctor to see if you are a candidate for treatment or call 844-266-4622.
MLB All Star Ozzie Smith shares his story of how back pain was affecting his quality of life and how treatment at IMAC got him back on the golf course doing what he loves!
January 2017 – David Price – Cy Young Winner, World Series Champ and 5X All Star joins IMAC as a Brand Ambassador for Nashville and his hometown of Murfreesboro, TN.
David Price is a winner and has a heart of gold. The first patient he sent to IMAC was his mother, Debbie, who was also in attendance at the grand opening celebrating the big announcement. “I am very excited about the opening of David Price IMAC Regeneration Center. Regenerative procedures are done often by Major League Baseball teams, and I have seen several teammates have success with it during my years of playing,” David shared regarding his decision to become a brand ambassador for IMAC. “I look forward to hearing more success stories from people visiting the IMAC center in my hometown.” -David Price. We look forward to sharing in David’s success as he makes his big move across the country from the Boston Red Sox to the LA Dodgers!
MLB All Star David Price and his family join the IMAC team at the ribbon cutting ceremony of David Price IMAC Regeneration Center in Murfreesboro, TN
February 2018 – Tony Delk – University of Kentucky All American, NCAA Champ and NBA All Star announced as Brand Ambassador for Lexington, KY IMAC expansion
University of Kentucky Basketball has a huge fan base and they all remember how #00 helped win the 1996 NCAA Championship against Syracuse – and was named MVP! Tony’s reason for joining IMAC as a brand ambassador was a result of time he spent with IMAC Founder, Dr. Matt Wallis. “He not only told me of the tremendous work they are doing to provide new, effective options for pain and injury, but he also took me to Ozzie and David’s clinics and I saw for myself how well patients were taken care of and how dramatically they were improving.” -Tony Delk. In summer of 2017, Tony Delk IMAC Regeneration Center opened for business!
University of Kentucky All American and NBA Star Tony Delk and IMAC Founder, Dr. Matt Wallis celebrate the Announcement of Tony Delk IMAC Regeneration Center in Lexington, KY
So what is IMAC Regeneration Centers and why are treatments so effective at pain relief without surgery or opioids?
If your goal was to eat the best cheeseburger on earth, would you travel the world, collecting the best ingredients and eating them at each stop – or bring them all back to your house, assemble the burger and enjoy it all at once? Of course it’s a better experience when the ingredients are combined. Similarly, healthcare works best when “ingredients” are combined by top rate “chefs.” The highest quality healthcare and best outcomes happen when top doctors with different specialties work together to create the best treatment for each individual patient, and deliver it together through integrated care.
IMAC (Innovative Medical Advancements and Care) Regeneration Centers was created by Dr. Wallis and neurosurgeon, Sean McDonald, after traveling the country and overseas to find the best natural treatments for conditions such as a herniated disc and bone-on-bone knee arthritis. Their goal was to combine state-of-the-art medical and rehabilitation therapies to prevent surgeries such as spinal fusion and joint replacement.
IMAC Medical Technologist processing in the lab prior to a regenerative medicine cellular injection for knee osteoarthritis.
After much research and development, the IMAC concept was created through a combination of regenerative medicine and rehabilitation. These innovative treatment plans are individualized for each patient and include services such as cell therapy injections, platelet-rich plasma, physical therapy and spinal decompression and are all completed within the IMAC clinic. No longer does a patient fall through the cracks going from one doctor to another, face difficulty as they try to communicate what each doctor said, or has to wait on records to transfer before receiving care.
IMAC provides end-to-end customized care with the best regenerative medicine doctors and physical therapists in healthcare. That same approach allows IMAC medical doctors to treat the underlying condition causing pain instead of masking the symptoms which is the reason opioids are prescribed. There is no one more committed to providing non-opioid treatment options than Dr. McDonald. He experienced first-hand the addiction risk with opioids and uses his platform to educate people on natural, safe and effective ways chronic pain can be eliminated through regenerative medicine and rehabilitation. (More on Dr. McDonald’s story in another blog post.)
Dr. Sean McDonald and Dr. Rob Garneau prepare for a non-surgical cellular procedure using platelet-rich plasma injections for a herniated disc.
Everyone knows someone with an opioid addiction.
A couple of weeks ago I was in Washington D.C. and did what most travelers do – hailed an Uber. My driver, Nadeem, and I chatted about the usual stuff – how he became a driver and where he was from – and of course he asked me the same. Upon telling him about IMAC and our solution for the opioid epidemic, he shared how his son-in-law has been addicted to opioids for years after a back surgery. I wish I could say this story is uncommon, but unfortunately the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there are 58 opioid prescriptions written for every 100 Americans and from 1999 to 2017, 218,000 people died in the United States from overdoses related to prescription opioids.
The Veteran population has been highly impacted by chronic pain, opioid addiction and suicide – which was my reason for the trip to D.C. IMAC is part of a business coalition providing solutions as part of the PREVENTS initiative (President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide). I shared with Naheem the story a Veteran patient of ours that came to IMAC after almost committing suicide trying to get off opioids by taking gabapentin. (I will share Ray’s story in a future post). According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, people with severe or chronic pain are at increased risk for suicide but prescription opioids (and their illicit relatives like gabapentin) add their own suicide risk of intentional and unintentional overdose. In 2017 opioids were involved in 40% of suicides, up from 4.3% in 2014. The rate of veterans’ overdose death from all opioids increased by 65% from 2010 to 2016 as reported in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
Are you using opioids to treat chronic pain? Call 844-266-4622 now to schedule a FREE phone consultation with an IMAC doctor to find out if you are a candidate for our natural pain relief treatment or click hereto schedule online.
Legendary athletes Tony Delk, Ozzie Smith and Maurice Evans, along with IMAC Founder, Dr. Matt Wallis, celebrate IMAC’s IPO on Nasdaq
IMAC Nation – Why Wall Street?
My conversation with Nadeem gave me the idea to write a blog about IMAC Nation. It’s the perfect time to launch as it is the one-year anniversary of IMAC trading publicly on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. After 20 years of operating as a privately held company, we decided to go the initial public offering route to raise capital to meet the demand for expansion of IMAC locations. Simply put, we do not have locations in enough areas of the United States to make the biggest impact possible on the opioid epidemic. But the reason we have grown from one location in Kentucky to 15 locations across KY, TN, MO, IL and our newest in Bonita Springs, FL, is how we are becoming IMAC Nation.
People deserve the opportunity to stay healthy, active and have a great quality of life without the risk of addiction to opioids. IMAC is making history by bringing regenerative medicine to the forefront as a solution for chronic pain without surgery or prescription pain killers. We hope by trading on Nasdaq we can continue to bring awareness to the need of more clinics throughout the United States with easier access to treatment. In the meantime, we have treated patients from 42 states, including Alaska!. Last year we completed over 300,000 procedures and IMAC is forging another new territory by building new partnerships with self-funded employers who want to offer the best healthcare benefit options to their employees.
Stay tuned for the next IMAC Nation blog post. Please contact me to share your story of how opioids impacted you or someone you love and to learn more about the non-surgical, non-opioid solutions at IMAC.
www.imacregeneration.com/locations