Gress Chiropractic marks 40 years of offering relief

When someone is hurting, chiropractor Dr. William Gress may be the person who can offer relief. Over his 40-year career in Homewood, he has helped thousands.

Gress’s hands-on work has him improving patients health by examining and realigning joints of the spine and extremities, and assessing how their connection to the nervous system affects the patient’s well-being.

“It’s just a blessing being here. Everybody on the appointment book we’re excited to see,” he said.

Gress Chiropractic Clinic, at 855 Maple Ave., was the second business to sign a lease for space in the strip mall when it was under construction in 1984. A Jewel food store to the south anchored a shopping plaza. The area to the north was prairie and the west, once a racetrack, was still undeveloped. 

Much has changed over the last 40 years. Gress is the last original business in that strip mall. Halsted Street is a major shopping area. Today his office sits north of Best Buy. Maple Avenue, which ended about a block from his business, now goes through an industrial park to the west. 

Gress, a graduate of Rich Central High School who grew up in Olympia Fields, was familiar with the area, but he’d been away for school – earning a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and then his chiropractic training at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa – so he needed to generate a roster of patients for his soon-to-be open practice. He was working part-time with a doctor in Merrillville, Indiana, at the time.

The summer of 1984, he drove through Homewood to introduce himself.

“I drove around in a ’65 Mustang with no air conditioning in summer. I’d be in a suit going door to door in a Homewood subdivision, knocking on people’s doors. I told people I’d just graduated and was interested in opening a practice and asked if there was any interest, one way or the other,” he recalled.

He had doors slammed on him, answered lots of questions, and remembers one woman who invited him in to sit at her breakfast table.

“Some asked where I’d be and asked me to put their name on a list and let them know when I’d open. That was what I started to do myself. I was persistent. I knew I wanted to do this,” he recalled.

Things have changed since those days, he says ruefully.  He’d never think to ring a doorbell today, but his approach worked. Over time he built a steady practice. 

Gress planned to be a dentist. He’d finished his pre-dentistry work at SIU and was ready to take the required admissions exam for dental school. A national policy change on school admissions made him rethink his decision. He knew he wanted to help people, but he wasn’t sure how.

Surprisingly the inspiration for his career came from seatmates at Purdue football. His dad had season tickets, and they sat next to the same couple year after year. The man had finished chiropractic school and was now in practice. Gress asked if he could observe him. A January 1979 trip to Urbana, Illinois, to visit the doctor was all Gress needed to decide chiropractic care was in his future.

His gregarious personality puts patients at ease. He uses a hydraulic lift table, so that patients don’t have to climb onto an examination table. He says it’s especially helpful for people who can’t flex too much because of pain. He also has his own X-ray machine so that he doesn’t need to send patients to another facility for X-rays.

As a chiropractic physician, Gress is a primary care doctor. 

“I really enjoy what I’m doing, interacting with the patients, figuring out what’s wrong, determining what we need to get better and then seeing them improve and seeing the smile on their faces,” he said.

The week of his business’s anniversary, Gress handed out roses to his patients for themselves or their significant others. He has carried on this tradition he started 39 years ago after his first year in office. It’s his special “thank you” to those who walk through the door.

To reach the office, call 708-957-8900.