Thank you for your support throughout this time.
May 25th, 2023, marks the 8th anniversary of our existence as a healthcare company.
Thats 8 years since our humble beginnings working out of a room inside Mindarie Keys Medical Centre as Anchorage Drive Physiotherapy in 2015.
At that time, it was myself and one other physio, Dan. We didn’t have any of our own admin, and we had no rehabilitation areas nor a multidisciplinary team.
Since that time our company has grown. In March 2017, I opened up Drovers Elite Physiotherapy. Our first stand-alone clinic. We employed more physios and our first Exercise Physiologist. My brother, Reuben, came on board and really looked after the clinic and our patients.
We employed a receptionist, who helped to develop our processes and front desk procedures that backed our growth.
In May 2017, I had my first child. I was suddenly challenged to find a way to balance being a physio, business owner, mentor and a new mum!
Our team were a huge part of our clinics’ success during this time. They stepped up and took over patient care and allowed me some space to learn how to juggle.
We worked hard; really hard. We stayed late and came in early. We employed more physios, more admin and another Exercise Physiologist.
We grew to offer complex care services, and complete rehabilitation from injury and pain to return to sport, work and function.
Our custom-built rehabilitation gym became a focus of the clinics, and ensured our model stood out from the rest. Health for life, and we had the skills and tools to deliver this.
In November 2019 we opened a satellite clinic inside Sunlander Medical centre. Our goal here was to offer a small, high-quality service with the local GPs and their multidisciplinary team.
Unfortunately, Covid 2020 meant we had to temporarily shut this clinic. In the interest of safety, I made a decision to keep our practitioners in 1 location only. This minimised risk to them and the public.
Like many businesses, the last 3 years has been an extremely challenging time for us. When the pandemic hit WA, we woke up to 80% of our bookings disappearing overnight. We had no new patients booking in. People were scared.
Reuben and I made decisions that were backed by our hard working and loyal team. I stopped paying myself entirely and Reuben took a significant pay cut. We cut a number of niceties in the clinic and dug into our savings.
We did this in order to keep our doors open and our staff employed.
During this time, none of our staff lost their jobs. Additionally, we were able to ensure safe delivery of our services to our vulnerable community members.
I am really proud of my leadership during this time. I am really proud of our team for coming together. I am really proud of our community for pulling together and moving through those tough years.
In amidst the chaos of 2020, I welcomed my second child into the world, reopened our Sunlander clinic and opened a brand new stand-alone clinic in Iluka.
As our company (and family) grew, we continued to employ more team members, and create new opportunities for our community.
In 2021, we re-located our original site, Anchorage Drive Physio. We found a stand-alone location 6 times bigger than our original space. It had the capacity to have our own admin team, rehabilitation and Pilates gym. More importantly, we had the ability to better support our team and community with high-quality, multidisciplinary services.
2022 brought new opportunities. I made a decision to sell our Iluka clinic to one of our employees (and her business partner).
This allowed me to focus on the rest of our team. This created growth in the quality of care we provided in our other 3 locations (whilst knowing Iluka was in capable hands).
Our Practice Manager, Sue, worked hard and grew our Mobile Physiotherapy service. We gained NDIS accreditation and commenced our Pilates classes.
As of right now, we have gone from 1 employee and 1 location to 19 employees, 3 locations and a mobile service.
I still work my much loved clinical hours.
In our journey over the last 8 years, there has been consistent themes in our growth.
Our motivated and highly capable admin team ensure the behind the scenes is running as smoothly as possible.
Our clinical Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology teams are dedicated, highly skilled clinicians.
Our community have believed in us. Our community have supported our small family business and trusted us to look after your health.
It is an honour to be helping our community. It is an honour to be trusted with your health journey. It is an honour to hold this role and service the people around us.
2023 we have more exciting developments coming. We are currently working hard to deliver better and more comprehensive services to you.
Additionally, we will continue to employ local people. We will continue to create opportunities for our students and professionals and form a pillar of support within our communities.
Thank you for your support for the last 8 years. I am honoured to fill this role and to continue to work with this community.
To my clinicians, thank you for your ongoing belief in our company, and in our beliefs for better health. Thank you for trusting the process and building something to be really proud of.
I look forward to continuing to reach for excellence with you.
- Steph
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