Saint John Clinic Focuses On Health And Rehabilitation For Women And Children
SAINT JOHN – Archstone Physiotherapy and Wellness Centre continues to grow its business of providing pelvic health and rehabilitation and focusing on women’s and children’s health and rehabilitation.
Clinical Director Frances Roderick had worked for years as an orthopedic and sports medicine physiotherapist prior to opening the centre in 2016 and had seen many people struggling with pelvic health concerns.
“It can feel very taboo to bring that topic up and I think that people who struggle with those feel very invisible,” says Roderick, adding that 20 percent of her pelvis health caseload are men. “When women bring these concerns up, they finally get brave enough to bring them up, sometimes they can feel very dismissed or the level that it’s bothering them isn’t recognized and then that leads to delays or a lack of treatment.”
In the beginning, she was Archstone’s sole therapist and was cautious about opening the business because she didn’t have an entrepreneurial background. However, the centre quickly grew and Roderick decided to build a multidisciplinary team of therapists and professionals with the training and skill-set to work with sensitive women’s health issues.
Archstone is now one of the largest physiotherapy clinics in the Saint John region, owned and led by women with over 18 staff meeting the health and rehabilitation needs of women and children. It is also the only private clinic in Saint John with a full pediatric rehabilitation team with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.
The physiotherapists have all developed specialized niche areas of practice, such as pelvic health physiotherapy, breast and gynecological cancer and lymphedema therapy, hand therapy, chronic pain, and pediatrics.
The centre also offers dietetics with a registered dietitian with a special interest in reproductive health and infertility, mental health occupational therapy, counseling therapy, massage therapy, and acupuncture.
Archstone’s physiotherapy model has allowed them to really provide individualized one-on-one treatment and take the time to work with their patients.
“When you get into private healthcare, there’s always that struggle between revenue generation and providing really good healthcare,” said Roderick. “That’s not always easy to do in healthcare, because in order to bring in the revenue, you’ve got to see a certain number of patients in a day. We worked really hard to find a model that allows us to stay in the black while still providing exceptional care.”
On average, Archstone sees between 500 and 600 patients a month and has grown entirely from word-of-mouth.
“Our best marketing is when people come here and they feel like they’ve gotten good care and they’ve learned to trust us. Then they tell their friends about it or they tell their sisters or their mothers about it,” she said.
Elizabeth MacLeod is a reporter in Saint John with Huddle and Acadia Broadcasting radio stations. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].