>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Licensed Massage Therapist Phillip Hickey says the Blue Mountain Academy of Healing Arts will be first school of its kind in the region. (The Observer/PHIL BULLOCK).

- Bill Rautenstrauch

The Observer

Career opportunities expanded a bit in La Grande recently when Licensed Massage Therapist Phillip Hickey opened the Blue Mountain Academy of Healing Arts downtown.

It's the first school of its kind in the region, and Hickey thinks it will benefit the community in a positive way.

"A lot of people want to go to massage school, but they're having to do it out of state or in Portland," Hickey said. "Rather than send people away, we can teach them here and give them opportunities here."

Hickey is a 1972 graduate of La Grande High School who moved away for a quarter century and then came back.

He lived respectively in Alaska and Seattle, working as a builder and general general contractor. In 1998, in Seattle, he decided on a career change.

"I kept driving by this massage school and one day I went in to ask about it. They were good at sales and I signed up. I had always thought of studying nursing, but the way it ended up, I went into massage."

The school, Seattle Massage School, later changed its name to Ashmead College. Hickey earned his license there in 1999.

He worked first in the midwifery wing of Everett General Hospital, doing pregnancy massage. Later he changed jobs, signing on at Seattle's Spa Nordstrom.

"It's pretty nice. They speak spa fluently there. It was a wonderful experience," he said.

In 2001, he returned to Union County to be near his mother in Cove. Mostly he supported himself with construction work, but there came a time when that was no longer right for him.

"I went back to carpentering, but I think my body can't do it anymore. I've had a couple of surgeries," he said.

Last year, he began laying plans for his school, developing a curriculum and submitting it to the Oregon Department of Education's division of private career schools.

"There was a lot of paperwork and waiting periods, but we are licensed now," Hickey said.

The curriculum is geared toward medical massage. The 21-week course will include about 200 hours of academic study and 300 hours of hands-on work, said Hickey.

In the book learning, there will be emphasis on anatomy and physiology, and kinesiology, which is the study of human movement.

To qualify for the school, a prospective student needs to have a high school diploma or equivalent. Also required is a letter of reference from someone in the local community.

Oh, and one more thing.

"You need to get a massage, and then write an essay about it," Hickey said.

After completing the course, students will take the state test that results in licensing.

With the license, a therapist can go into business or look for work in any one of a number of settings, including hospitals, spas, hair salons, resorts, even cruise ships.

But the test, Hickey said, is a challenge all in itself.

"Oregon's tough," he said. "You can't just walk in off the street and take the test."

Hickey said he has room for 12 students this term, which begins May 7. Five people have already signed up, he said.

For more information, call 963-7435.