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Owners giving PT franchise a FYZICAL presence

By Rick Shrum business Writer rshrum@observer-Reporter.Com 4 min read
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Rick Shrum/observer-reporter

Co-owners Todd Exley, left, and Phil Firkins treat patients at centers in Peters, Cecil and Bethel Park.

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Rick Shrum/observer-reporter

Todd Exley straps on a harness used for patients dealing with balance, gait and dizziness issues.

Three and a half years ago, Todd Exley and Cliff Milowicki became more than neighbors.

Each was a physical therapist, each had outpatient PT ownership experience, each knew Southwestern Pennsylvania. In July 2016, the owner of Clifford Milowicki Physical Therapy Services needed a managing partner and engaged Exley – a fellow Peters Township resident – who said he agreed to take the position.

That put them side by side outside their neighborhood as well. They are part of a team that is operating three PT facilities south of Pittsburgh that shed the name Milowicki PT and joined a national franchise, FYZICAL. The rebranding took place a little more than a year ago at their clinics along Waterdam Plaza Drive, Peters; Millers Run Road, Cecil Township; and Baptist Road, Bethel Park.

While Milowicki is still playing an integral role at those locations, Exley has a new co-owner, Phil Firkins, who has worked with Milowicki/FYZICAL for a number of years. Firkins assumed that position Jan. 1.

Known formally as FYZICAL Therapy and Balance Centers, the franchise provides services for orthopedic and post-surgical rehab; sports injuries; balance and gait disorders; pelvic health, including pain and incontinence; and individualized and sport-specific training.

FYZICAL has 406 locations in 46 states, including 16 in Pennsylvania, with more promised. The Sarasota, Fla.-based franchise has an especially strong presence in the Southeast U.S.

Exley, a 1995 graduate of Belle Vernon Area High School, and Firkins endorse corporate growth, to be sure. But as independent owners – franchisees – they are focused on widening their own horizons.

“The goal is to expand in Western Pennsylvania, but our goal is to expand our territory,” Exley said recently at the Waterdam location.

Their three facilities are open five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., by appointment. Saturday hours are available upon request. But schedules are flexible for patients.

“We try to accommodate everyone we can,” Exley said.

He and Firkins have eight employees – six clinical staff and two on the support side. Providing a wide spectrum of services is FYZICAL’s objective.

“Our slogan is ‘Spelled different because we are different,'” Exley said. “We try to offer one-on-one, individualized treatments along with pelvic health. That’s what makes us different.”

Competition is the impetus behind that approach.

“There are so many competitors,” said Firkins, a Columbus, Ohio, native.

“There’s competition even in Waterdam,” Exley added. “AHN, UPMC and NovaCare are among our competitors. This is a private practice. It’s a difficult market to compete in.”

He, Milowicki and Firkins have been doing this for a while, though, and know how to navigate these waters.

Exley, a soccer player at BVA, entered Duquesne University with a goal of working in professional sports. He majored in physical therapy and athletic training and eventually fulfilled that pro sports ambition, securing a position as PT/trainer for D.C. United, a Major League Soccer franchise. Exley worked there for a year and “found that I liked outpatient physical therapy and wanted to pursue that as a career.”

He became part-owner of a PT facility in the Mon Valley, where he remained for 10 years – until that opportunity arose in 2016. Milowicki had already established himself in Peters, where he had opened a center in 2012. A few years later, however, he relocated elsewhere in the township, at Waterdam, and needed a partner. That’s when Exley came on board.

Exkey and Firkins are now franchisees of the only FYZICAL centers in the southwestern-most part of the state. The ones nearest to them are in Butler, Grove City, Hermitage and Morgantown, W.Va. That will likely change, said Chris Hincker, the franchise’s vice president of development.

“We’re planning 15 to 20 in the next several years,” he said over the phone from Sarasota, where FYZICAL was formed in 2012 and where it launched its first center a year later.

“I know the (Pittsburgh) marketplace can support that type of growth. We’ve had market success there. UPMC is big, which can make it challenging, but we’re unique and can survive and even thrive.”

Hincker said no other Pittsburgh-area sites have been specifically identified and FYZICAL is doing its “standard demographic research” of the region.

The perception that physical therapy is a growth industry is valid, Hincker said, and he expects expansion to accelerate.

“As the baby boomer population grows, and gains more awareness, people will realize that physical therapy is a gateway to achieve to good health,” Hincker said. “I actually expect physical therapy to continue to grow tremendously and take a front seat in health care in a number of years.”

FYZICAL plans to grow with that.

“We like the direction the franchise is headed,” Exley said.

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