Suddenly we find ourselves turning 9!
I am so proud of the journey we have had and the things we are achieving.
I want to take a moment to thank you, and the rest of our vibrant and growing community, for your support of our team, our vision and our work over the last 9 years.
This family business would not exist without your support, and for that, I am truly thankful.
I am thankful that I have the opportunity to impact our community in a positive way, and I am thankful for the support the community have shown me in return.
Together, we have achieved amazing things. Things that add colour, happiness and quality to the lives of our community everyday.
This community is wonderful! This community is the beating heart of our local small businesses and the soul that drives our day to day and our bright futures.
I want to give you an insight into how far we have come and what we have planned for the future.
Our company started 2015 as just myself inside a room, in Mindarie Keys Medical Centre. I had no reception, no admin assistance and no team.
This was what most people would call the start of our journey. What most people don't know is that my vision was born far earlier than this.
When I was in the 4th year of my undergrad degree, sitting on a bus on the ride home, I had a sudden vision of running a multidisciplinary clinic, offering top quality care. This clinic offered a variety of exercise options, and was a place of shared knowledge, empathy and professionalism. It was a place of collaboration and growth, and a place of safety for our team and community.
This vision was so clear that I could hear the sounds, smell the smells, see the colours and feel the vibe. It was so real and vibrant that in that moment, I could almost touch it.
In that moment, I felt clarity on where I wanted to go, and how I wanted to operate as a healthcare provider.
Over the next couple of years, this vision started growing deeper and evolving as I worked through the “how to” and “when to” and the steps I needed to take to make this a reality.
In 2015 when I bought Anchorage Drive Physio, I saw this as a starting point to making this dream a reality.
In 2016, I had an opportunity with a new medical building being built at Drovers. It was a big risk - there had never been medical services there, I knew there was significant disruptive roadwork planned for the coming years, and it was a significant space with significant overheads. It required a significant financial investment, with no guarantee of any reward.
I firmly believe that great things are only achieved outside of our comfort zone.
I felt in my bones that this was a step I needed to take.
I was moving closer to my vision and my dream, and I needed to take this risk.
After 6+ months of delays from builders/council/fitout, I opened Drovers Elite Physio on the 7th of March, 2017.
We didn't have enough finance to do the fit out as well as purchase equipment and do signage, so I had to make some decisions.
We did our own painting and parts of the fitout, bought the very basic equipment, the cheapest furniture we could find, and a squat rack.
Over the next 6 months, we saved enough to get the gym fitout, pilates equipment, flooring and signage.
We even stretched our budget (and ate baked beans for a month) and purchased artwork for the rooms!
It wasn't much, but I was so proud of what we were achieving. I was proud of the services we were offering our community, and the quality of care we could achieve in our space.
During this time, I battled with severe sleep deprivation. When Xavier was born in May 2017, Telstra had not yet connected our phone line, so I was taking bookings on my mobile. We were not yet busy enough to have a receptionist, so I was juggling reception with being a new mum and a clinician. Xavier was waking every 40 minutes all night (something he would continue for 8 months) and wasn’t sleeping at all during the day.
As we grew over the next 2 years, we were able to employ more staff and things started to take off for our little clinics.
Our clinical team grew, and we employed our first full time receptionist. This was freeing for our clinical team and enabled us to focus on building things that make a difference clinically. We built our PD program, we put clinical pathways in place and offered community workshops to our local clubs and gyms. We also employed our very first Exercise Physiologist. We were finally Multidisciplinary!
This was a huge turning point for our company, and the quality of care we were able to deliver to our community.
During this time, our relationships with our colleagues and community deepened and it saw us open a satellite clinic inside Sunlander Medical Centre, in 2019.
When Covid hit in March 2020, we came to a grinding halt. Overnight, the business we had poured our heart and soul into, looked like it was going to go bankrupt. Our bookings disappeared and no new patients were booking in. People were scared.
Throughout this time, I made some big changes, but kept our team employed and our services running. I also delivered our second child, Amelia.
When Iluka opened in October 2020, I had a newborn and Covid was still very much present.
Growing a new clinic throughout Covid proved to be challenging, but we made it work.
It was during this time that we reached a point in the company where we needed a Practice Manager. Up until now, I had been doing this work. I was finding it increasingly difficult to do this, be a mum, practice clinically, and also stay on top of the legislation and social needs of Covid.
This is when Sue came on board. What a difference she made to the functioning and every day running of our clinics!
Soon, we realised that Anchorage had outgrown its space inside the medical centre. To stay in line with our vision and our company direction, we needed to move to a standalone location, and offer comprehensive exercise and rehabilitation options (including Exercise Physiology).
After months of searching for solutions, we found the space that now homes Anchorage Drive Physiotherapy and moved in in October 2021.
We grew our team from 2 physios to 5 physios and an Exercise Physiologist. We now have reception, an office and share the space with Stay Home Therapy Services (our Mobile Massage Service).
In June 2022, I sold our Iluka clinic to existing staff members. Initially I was hesitant to sell, but I reflected on my vision and realised that this fits perfectly with my desire to empower our clinicians and our community with growth opportunities.
We have also won some awards!
In 2021, I won the AusMumPreneur Leadership in Business award, and came runners up in the Health Business of the Year award.
In 2022, I was awarded the WA Leaders Scholarship (thanks to the City of Wanneroo), which has enabled me and Sue to access high quality professional development from a variety of business leaders across Australia.
Also in 2022, our company were awarded the Best Business with 15 or more employees, through Wanneroo Business Association.
2023 saw us win the Wanneroo Business Association Customer Service Award, as well as Runner Up Employee of the Year (Imogen), and Winner Business Leader of the Year (Sue).
These were huge achievements for us all. Sue and Imogen are outstanding team members, and I have no hesitation in saying that we have the best team we have ever had.
I like to think these awards are reflective of the drive we have and the meaningful work we all do on a daily basis.
Our vision to offer the best quality healthcare service we can, and create healthy habits within our communities, is becoming a reality. Our dream to create real community connections, opportunities for our teams and a new version of holistic healthcare in Perth’s north is actually happening.
This year has been a big year full of change for our team and community.
Firstly, we stopped working on Saturdays. We made this decision on the back of feedback from our Team. Creating balance in their lives allows them to better help our community. We now offer a larger number of late-night appointments, but no longer offer Saturdays.
Secondly, we moved to longer consultation times. We have transitioned from 20 and 40 minute appointments to 30,45 and 60 minute appointments. This is a change that has been needed for a long time in order to improve the health of our community, and the sustainability of our clinicians.
Longer appointments offer better quality care to our community and pull us more inline with our vision and purpose. This is a change our industry needs to make, and we are proud to be leading the charge.
Thank you to everyone for your patience while this happened, and overcoming the teething issues associated with this.
Thirdly, as you may know, we are renovating Drovers. This renovation will create 7 consult rooms, a larger reception area, a dedicated pilates space, and a more functional rehabilitation gym.
We will not be losing any of our amazing quality of care, and our space will become more functional, and sparkly.
I extend a HUGE thanks to our community for working around the renovations and for trusting in my ongoing vision for our space.
In addition to these changes, I have made the decision to close our Sunlander clinic. Occupying this space is no longer in alignment with how we practice, or with our vision for the future.
Our relationship with Sunlander Medical Centre continues. The complex care cases that we collaborate on will continue, and will take on a new, more flexible online appointment schedule. This means, we can continue the important work we were doing in this space, from a more flexible and open arrangement.
When one door closes, another one opens (quite literally in this case).
We have opened a new clinic!
This clinic is located inside our beautiful Kings Park and lead by the amazing Evan Coopes (renowned physio and all over great person).
Evan is an expert in complex injuries and complex pain.
Evan also has special interests in creating programs to get people back to exercise and performance after injury and looks at long term preventative health.
This clinic came about because of relationships we have made with our community, and meaningful change we have created for patients, colleagues and community organisations.
We were sought out by NextGen for the work we do, and the ethos in which we practise.
I am so excited to see the growth of Kings Park, and the expert care we are able to offer through Evan.
The last new development I want to share with you is very exciting. We have been working on this for many months and I am excited to reveal the final piece in the coming weeks.
We are rebranding.
We will get a new name, a new look and new community initiatives to help our community grow and evolve.
We will be better aligned with what our changing community needs, and we will have better pathways for our local athletes, aged population, paediatrics and our families that make our community whole and vibrant.
We will have long term health solutions, and preventative health care options.
Our quality and our core service will not be changing. We will only be growing to offer a more comprehensive care environment.
We will still be offering our complex pain services, our sports injury rehabilitation and our disability care. We are your local experts in pain and injury, and really love the work we do for you in this space.
Despite all these changes, we remain connected to our community and focussed on being ethical and impactful community members.
I am exceptionally proud of the work we do in our community.
Just recently we ran a Purr-lates fundraiser for 9-Lives Cat Rescue and have a number of community initiatives brewing.
Stay tuned for our next Animal Rescue partnership, community event and collaboration.
We have had a huge 9 years. We have exciting things coming. My dream remains colourful and vibrant, and I am so happy to share this journey with each of you.
I am so excited to share my vision for our future with you. The services we will be providing will be second to none, and so desperately needed in our corridor of the world.
Thank you for the support you and our community have offered me, my family and our team over the last 9 years. We are proud and local, and invested in the betterment of our community and health.
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