Best friends now colleagues at OrthoRehab
Apr. 26—Glenn Morden and Ty Morgan have been friends since high school growing up in Columbia Falls. Today, both young men are staffers at OrthoRehab Physical Therapy at the Cedar Palace Medical Center .
Morden is a Physical Assistant Therapist, having joined the staff in July of 2019, first in Whitefish and then he transferred over to Columbia Falls in May of last year.
Morgan went to the University of Montana, where he graduated with a bachelor's of science in human biology. He then attended physical therapy school at South College in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he earned his doctorate of physical therapy in 2022 — he did his last clinical work at OrthoRehab under another Columbia Falls grad — co-owner and physical therapist Tyler Ladenburg.
Morden and Morgan played basketball together in high school. Morgan helped lead the boys to their last state A championship in 2014, when they downed heavily-favored Dillon, 56-47. Morgan had a knack for drawing fouls and was golden from the line throughout the tourney, going 22 of 24 from the charity stripe for the tourney — a number he still remembers today.
Morden was a sophomore that year, while he suited up, he didn't play. But the next year the two played together when Morgan was a senior and Morden was a junior, taking third at state.
Morgan recalled a half-court pass from Morden at the half of one game that he grabbed and put in the net just as the buzzer sounded.
The two stayed friends after high school and into college. Today, they do a lot of hikes together and scrambles in Glacier National Park — climbing peaks like Jackson, Heaven's Peak and Mount Clements to name a few.
They draw the line at using ropes, they said.
"Just scrambles," they said.
Morgan said his initial plan after graduation was to do some traveling, but Ladenburg convinced him to stay.
"I love it here," he said. It's always been home when I lived in other places."
They both value the work, noting they see clients as young as 8 and as old as 90. The injuries are all sorts — this icy winter it was rehabbing after falls. Whitefish Mountain Resort keeps them busy with shoulder and the array of other injuries from falling on the slopes.
They see their jobs as getting people back on their feet and living the lives they once had after an injury, from walking to helping ultramarathoners back running 50ks.
The two men often work together with patients and they appreciate that OrthoRehab has invested in top-of-the-line equipment.
The office also has some of the best views in Columbia Falls.
They say being dedicated to their patients is paramount, plus in a small town, they know most of the clients.
"We're going to give you everything we've got to get you back to what you want to do," they said.
