Dear Friends,
As I sit here thinking about what to say heading into our 34th year in the Michiana area, I feel very thankful and a little surprised. I never anticipated how blessed I would be and how much my life would be touched by everyone I have come to know. At times, I am overcome by a sense of deep gratitude to all of the patients, physicians, caseworkers, staff, friends, and families that I have worked with over these thirty-four years.
Our clinic began with the help of a special old friend, a new friend, and some long-term co-workers who believed in the dream of establishing an independent, private practice physical therapy clinic devoted to overwhelming patients with exceptional service. Our patients became our promoters because of the unique service we provided. What started out as a dream has become a reality beyond my imagination with the help of so many.
Thirty-four years ago, my wife, Maura, and I moved to South Bend from Illinois. I had been working 6 days a week from early morning to late at night, trying to run a physical therapy practice with three satellite clinics, located about an hour apart from one another The challenges of running an expanding business and trying to balance a family at the same time were overwhelming. Maura and I struggled with the lack of time I was spending with our family. Our daughter, Mara, was 3 years old, and our son Michael had just been born. Having been brought up with a strong belief in the importance of family and balance, I realized I was failing to live up to the philosophy I had always preached to family and friends.
The suggestion to start over and move to South Bend (where Maura & I had met) was made by several of our college friends. One of my closest friends, Jim Shea, whom I respected and admired, was more influential in our decision to begin a new life in South Bend than he could have imagined. He has continued to play a major role in our success, and I am extremely grateful for his friendship and all of the guidance he has given me.
Back in 1989, in order to encourage local physicians to try our services, I had asked them to send me their toughest patients, I asked them to send me any post-surgical patients who had been to physical therapy, and still hadn't recovered. The physician who had the greatest impact on the early success of our practice was an orthopedist named Stephen Mitros, MD. At that time, he was my biggest referral source which enabled our one-person clinic to get moving in a positive direction.
As patients improved, word of our success healing challenging injuries, started spreading to other physicians. Gradually, our reputation began to grow with the help of physicians like Steve, Roger Klauer, Robert Clemency and patients who were leaving our clinic excited about their results. Our little practice, which had operated without a front office person for five months, was now able to hire Sandy Leslie, who became the front office superstar. Barb Knutson and Karen Lemmon joined as part-time physical therapists, and we were off and running. Sandy, Barb, and Karen contributed immensely to our long- term success.
I would have never guessed, while working in the basement of a small building on Monroe Street, that our practice would grow from a small, 815 square foot space to one of 14,000 square feet. My original plan was for my three co-workers and I to give patients great personal care, resolving their frustrating, painful conditions as quickly and thoroughly as possible, and live happily ever after in that small, basement space. People have asked me why we built bigger instead of having many small satellites. One reason was to be able to have more consistent quality of care, providing continuous training and mentorship of our PT's and PTA's. Another reason was to avoid the problem I had in Illinois, spending too much time driving between satellites and being away from my family.
A good business is like a person’s life; it requires a great deal of hard work, sweat, tears, laughter and strong commitment of all involved. We have had many wonderfully, dedicated staff who truly strove to put our patient needs first over the last 34 years. Some of these staff were even family members! Each of these people have contributed a great deal to our success. I am so very grateful to all the physicians, caseworkers, and companies who have supported our efforts and given us tips along the way, too.
I am grateful to Jim Moriarty, MD of the University of Notre Dame and Pat Leary, MD (who has moved on to run his own sports Medicine Program in Pennsylvania) for including me in the weekly orthopedic gatherings which have turned into a highly successful Sports Medicine program. This work done behind the scenes, by a number of local physicians and specialists, is one of the best kept secrets in our area! Much gratitude also goes to Jim Moriarty and the ND administration for inviting us to have a satellite on the Notre Dame campus. Being on-site at Notre Dame, serving students and staff and the Notre Dame Community for the last 14 years has truly been an honor and an integral part of our practice.
That’s our story in a nutshell. Thanks again to everyone who has felt strongly enough to choose McDonald Physical Therapy for their orthopedic, sports, spine, and work injury needs. Much has changed in the last 34 years. There are a number of big corporate physical therapy clinics in our area. (Big corporate and physician-owned physical therapy groups can actually charge and get reimbursed 2 to 2.5 times more than a private practice can charge or get reimbursed for the same treatment.) We are proud to be one of the very few private, physical therapist-owned and operated practices in our area.
I would like to thank my wife and family (which now has grown to include a son-in-law, 2 daughters-in-law, and 5 ½ grandchildren). I would also like to thank the friends who helped me realize that my work (though I love it) is important but not more important than being a good father, spouse, family member, and friend. I wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and, most especially, some time to enjoy your family and friends!
Enjoy, and know we are here to help you get stronger every day!
Fran McDonald, PT,DPT,OCS
