Page 19 - BusinessWest Healthcare Heroes 2021

HEALTHCARE HEROES OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
PATIENT/RESIDENT/ CLIENT CARE PROVIDER
Dr. Louis J.
DeCaro
Doctor and Owner, DeCaro Total Foot Care Center
This Specialist Has Helped Patients of All Ages Take Huge Strides
DBy George O’Brien
r. Louis J. DeCaro is firm of the opinion that no one actually has good feet.
Rather, experience tells him that everyone has one of 24 variations of bad feet.
“That includes high arches, low arches, no arches ... people come in and they think flat feet are the only bad feet,” said DeCaro, owner of Hatfield-based DeCaro Total Foot Care Center, referencing a chart of what he calls the ‘24 Foot Structures.’ “But you can have an arch that causes not foot pain, but back pain. So often, high-arch people have back pain, but they don’t realize it’s coming from their feet.”
This chart, and DeCaro’s extensive use of it to explain problems people are having now — or might have later — is just one of many reasons why he was named the Healthcare Hero for 2021 in the always-competitive Provider category. Indeed, he has made pediatric podiatry his specific specialty,
and throughout his career he has helped people of all ages, but especially children, make great strides, both figuratively and quite literally.
He has done this through everything from education to complex surgical procedures, to the development of new orthotic products, such as littleSTEPS, orthoses created specifically for young people and designed
to improve coordination, balance, pain, posture, and strength, while aiding in the development of a more stable and functional gait.
He even makes an impact through his photography. DeCaro, who travels often with his family and through his work, photographs animals wherever he goes and winds up selling prints of some of his best shots, with the proceeds going to help families in need offset the cost of orthotics.
Thus, his work can be — and often is — described as life-changing, and that’s why he finds all facets of it, but especially his work with children, so rewarding.
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Leah Martin Photography
“People often ask me why I do pediatrics,”
he said. “And I tell them that one of the wonderful things I get to experience is when a child follows up who couldn’t walk, and I helped them walk; that’s got to be one of the most rewarding things in the world. To get a hug from
a parent who tells me that their child is finally walking or is able to run or keep up with their friends ... that’s really priceless.”
Over the years, DeCaro has received many hugs like that, and that just begins to explain why he is one of the Healthcare Heroes for 2021.
Positive Steps
Like many in healthcare, DeCaro said that, while he ultimately chose his specialty, in many ways, it chose him.
Relating the story of how he ventured into podiatry, he said he had just finished his junior year at Stony Brook University on Long Island and was on a path to a career in allopathic medicine when he got a letter from someone at Barry University, a podiatry school in Florida.
To get a hug from
a parent who tells
me that their child is
finally walking or is
able to run or keep
up with their friends
... that’s really
”
priceless.
SEPTEMBER 2021 33
2021 HEALTHCARE HEROES