Altius means ‘Higher’ in latin and our aim is to offer the highest standard of healthcare in the country................................... Your Health Is Our Mission!
Doug Jones, founder and owner of Altius Healthcare worked for 17 years as a head physiotherapist for a number of professional rugby clubs including Sale Sharks, London Wasps and England Rugby.
During this time he was at the sharp end of seeing some of the most challenging injuries due to the intense nature of Rugby as a contact, collision sport.
At the height of his career in October 2015 Doug was to receive devastating news in relation to his own health. Doug had been diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma - a 3 cm benign brain tumour - that was life threatening.
The implications and outcome of this diagnosis was to change his life. The tumour had grown near to the nerves that control hearing and balance critical and needed to be removed in emergency surgery that month.
After the 12 hour operation Doug was left with no hearing in his right ear and and only the left side of his brain to control his balance. The operation was a success in that the entire tumour was removed but Doug’s recovery to full health was not guaranteed.
Rehabilitation from this major life changing event was to be Doug’s biggest battle of his life. Over the next 6 months he made rapid progress in rehabilitating his body, balance, strength and coordination. Now back to normal the only visible signs of his ordeal are the scars on the back of his head and hearing aids.
Many patients who have suffered the same ordeal are left with ongoing pain and fatigue and never fully recover their balance and strength. Today Doug’s remarkable recovery is testament to the skull base team at Salford Royal Hospital and the power of the mind and the body to overcome almost impossible obstacles.
Whilst in recovery, Doug set about starting his own business to help others overcome health problems and those who had suffered similar injuries. This was the inception of Altius Healthcare - which in just over three years has built a formidable reputation. Its clients comprise of those with health and wellbeing requirements either in one of their clinics, on-site in the work place or even in an elite professional sport setting.
Doug has become an ambassador for the British Acoustic Neuroma Association (BANA) and raised over £8000 for the charity last summer summiting the 4500m peak of the formidable Matterhorn in Switzerland. Not content with this Doug also completed the SAS selection march - The Fan Dance in the Brecon Beacons.
Altius has grown exponentially from Doug working 2-3 days a week and renting a room at Spire Manchester three years ago to a business that now has over 15 staff and sees over 1000 patients a month across three clinics in Hale - Cheshire, Manchester City centre and Bury.
Our goal for the business is to be the best provider of niche healthcare services in Manchester offering physiotherapy, massage, podiatry and wellness services. Altius clients include corporate clients such as Bruntwood and Ossur, they have contracts to supply services to Team GB Taekwondo, Team Honda British Superbikes and the Atherton’s Racing Team.
Many well known celebrities have chosen Altius for their care including Catherine Tyldesley
(Singer and actress, previously Coronation Street) Simon Rimmer (Celebrity Chef - Channel 4’s, Sunday Brunch), Karen Clifton (Professional Dancer, BBC’s Strictly come dancing), Sandy Lyle (Masters & Open winning golfer), as well as a host of other professional athletes including Red Bulls 5 times World Champion Rachael and her brother Gee Atherton, Honda’s Superbike Rider, Tom Neave, Sweden football International Robin Olsen.
We believe that Altius is different from other providers. We have invested heavily in our flagship clinic in the heart of Hale with a yoga and pilates studio, three treatment rooms and bespoked rehabilitation gym. Our staff are an exceptionally talented team with all our senior employees having worked at the highest level of sport either for Team GB or within the premiership.
As an organisation we are hugely passionate about developing our staff. We established our Altius Academy in 2019 which places junior physiotherapists in our local sports teams from Bowdon Rugby to Stockport Track and Field and hold staff training one evening a month.
Our plan this year is to grow further and establish a busy new practice in the centre of Manchester which will complement and service the corporate contracts we have across the city and hopefully attract many new clients in another new flagship clinic.
We are hugely excited about what the next few years will bring. We are calling our newest project Altius Retreats where we take three individuals away to the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands for three nights and treat them to a health and fitness experience like no other. So watch this space....our new, quarterly, Altius Newsletter will keep you up-to-date and we look forward to seeing you either in clinic, at your workplace or in an elite sport setting soon.
Climb Higher, Achieve More.
Doug Jones
