Things are happening
We really have a lot of things happening here at First Choice Physical Therapy. One thing we are working on is a contest that will have a monthly winner. Top prize will be a First Choice Physical Therapy Goodie Basket. Maybe a Bucket or a Pail or a Tote Bag or …? Our Office Manager, Vicki Barwick, has made lots of these things over the years. We are hoping she will be the master designer for these each month. More details to come soon. It is a secret today, but we hope you love our contest’s theme! We think it is going to be a lot of fun! Keep your eye right here.
Happy New Year – Tip for our Friends and Patients
Be sure to take your insurance cards with you when you visit any facility that might need it. With the start of a new year, changes to our health plans seems to be the norm as opposed to things remaining the same. At First Choice Physical Therapy we will be taking extra steps to help our patients assure that they are not stuck with a charge they did not expect due to changes in their policy. Bring in your newest insurance card even if you think everything is the same. We will put a copy of that card in your file and we will be making a very strong effort to contact your insurance company in advance of future visits to verify coverage, copay amounts and deductibles.
Beach Team Has A Visit From Santa
Tired and overworked Santa Claus
showed up for therapy today. With help of First Choice team, he will be on his feet by Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our patients, friends, and their families from First Choice Beach Team.
Junior League of Panama City
At First Choice Physical Therapy we strive to make our patients better. We also look for ways to make our community better too. One way is through sponsorship of local organizations. The Junior League of Panama City is a longstanding organization in which our Practice Manager Vicki Barwick and Dr. Brett Frank’s wife Lacey are members. The organization works to help clothe the children in the Bay County School System that are in need, as well as initiate skills and comaraderie among students in afterschool programs such as Girls On The Run and Kids In The Kitchen.
An up and coming event for the League is the Reindeer Race 5K and Santa Shuffle at St. Andrews State Park on Saturday, December 14th. Our own Brent Holtgrewe along with his wife Sandy and Emily Schmitt and husband Josh will be participating. If you would like to participate with your family or by yourself the closing date for registration is December 13th or feel free to just come out and cheer our First Choice family on.
Give yourself a gift
As we start December and race towards the end of the year, many of you are trying to figure out just the right gifts to buy. Don’t overlook something for yourself as well. If you have an ache, pain, tear or pull that has been making you miserable, now may be the best time for you to get it taken care of. Many people have already met the deductible on their insurance plan for 2013. Why wait until January 2014 to get the care you need?
Remember that you do not need to have a prescription for physical therapy in the State of Florida.
A beautiful soul
The other day while sitting at a local mechanic shop, I had the opportunity to witness a beautiful soul. There was an elderly lady waiting for her car as I was and I sat and observed her interaction with others In the waiting area. Her conversation was salted with compliments, encouragement and optimism.
With each news story that was on the TV in the waiting area, she would find the good in each. One customer commented on the high gas prices and her reply was “it is a privilege to drive and gas prices are double what ours are in some countries”. Her response to an Obamacare story was “we are blessed to have quality healthcare in this country” and “clean living has it’s rewards”. She encouraged a young mother with “you are such a gentle and carrying mother”.
She didn’t really notice I was taking all of this in or the influence her actions were having on me and undoubtedly others. When she left, she wished everyone a wonderful holiday season and I couldn’t help but feel she made everyone’s day a little brighter. I felt encouraged to seek out the good in every situation and be more thankful rather than critical. This holiday season, may we all count our blessings and realize that our actions, comments and conversations can have an impact on people’s lives without us even knowing it…. just like that beautiful soul had on mine.
Scott Champagne, PT
Nan has something to say
As I was preparing for our long Thanksgiving weekend, it occurred to me that I am truly thankful for my job at First Choice Physical Therapy. As the Billing Specialist I now work upstairs and don’t get to see the patients coming and going like I did when I worked in the front office. I can however hear the excitement in the gym when a patient hits a milestone in their rehabilitation and it puts a smile on my face every time.
If there is anything I can help you, our patients, with concerning your account please give me a call. I will be very glad to assist you anyway I can.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!
Nan Fountain, Billing Specialist
Congratulations Kristen Crowley and FSU
Brent Holtgrewe and MVP Sports Enhancement is thrilled to know that we played some part of Krsiten Crowley’s training for the soccer season. Kristen play’s for FSU’s women’s soccer team in the ACC. FSU scored a 1-0 win over Virgina Tech to win the 2013 ACC Women’s Soccer Championship. You can watch Yahoo sports recap here.
What do you do to stay active?
One of the most important ways to stay healthy and injury free is to be active. A lot of injuries we see are from weekend warriors or clients doing more than they should from lifting a heavy couch, cutting down a tree, to running a marathon not because these are bad things to do, but because the person decided to be active after 15 years of inactivity sitting on the couch.
We at First Choice believe in practicing what we preach. We believe that it is important for us to stay healthy and be examples for our patients instead of creating a “do as I say not as I do” scenario. Over the past 2 years, we have established a tradition of Tuesday basketball at lunch. On any given Tuesday, one can drive down 390 and see First Choice’s finest playing basketball. This weekly tradition has helped us stay fit and have fun doing it while forming an extracurricular bond between employees that you don’t get at your typical place of employment.
An added bonus is that we have just started the weekly results from the games will be posted on our electronic sign. Typically we play 2-3 games, the first is worth 1 the second worth 1/2 and the third worth 1/4. This scoring system will level the playing field for the older guys who may get tired towards the end of the second and third game making the first game the one to win. We will keep a running tally all year to determine who comes out as the 2013-14 2on2 champion.
So the next time you are driving down 390 on a Tuesday, look for a couple shirtless bandits trying to stay active and young on the First Choice basketball court. What are you doing to stay active?
Brent Holtgrewe, ATC, LAT, PES
MVP salutes Ellie Buttram
We are very happy to announce that Harding University’s Soccer team made it to the Conference Finals! It is only the second time in school history and they are very proud of their team, as they should be!
One of their players is a Bay County native. Ellie Buttram went through our MVP Training program and we of course like to think that helped her and the team. College level athletes naturally have a drive to win and be successful at their sport. MVP Sports Enhancement is a great way to get yourself to the next level.
Brent Holtgrewe, Director of Sports Medicine, evaluates each client to determine the best exercises to increase performance, stamina and strength needed for the athletes sport. For more information about MVP Sports Enhancement at First Choice Physical Therapy, visit our website. www.GoMVPnow.com
Mosley Baseball Diamond Club
Just saying, the Mosley Dolphins Baseball Diamond Club knows how to put together a fundraising golf tournament. First Choice Physical Therapy sponsored a team for the event and we had a great time. Our team consisted of Rob Maddox, Harry Frank, Brent Holtgrewe and Don Cornelius. It was an absolutely beautiful day for golf. After the golfing was done there was lunch, the presentation of the winners of the Longest Drive, Closest to Pin and 1st, Second and Third place teams. Then came the almost never ending drawings for donated door prizes. You could also buy Dolphin Baseball t-shirts.
The golf was on Saturday, November 9, but the fun really began for the Dolphins with an alumni game on Friday night. It sounded like another great time, because as we all mingled before the golf game it was the only thing people were talking about.
I am sure the fundraisers are not over for the Diamond Club. We encourage everyone in the community to do what you can to support these great athletes. They have a goal of getting into the finals at the State championship again this year and they will need our help to get there. Go Dolphins!
They have a Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mosley-Dolphins-Baseball/153876621349046
Always a step ahead!
This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a continuing education conference in Jacksonville, FL with focus on the lumbo sacral complex. Instructed by an outstanding speaker, I was educated on the most recent studies and findings on how to treat pain originating in the low back and pelvic area. I have been on staff at First Choice for a little over a year and have learned our approach to most aches and pains. This conference was the perfect experience for me to personally confirm the high standard of care and treatment approach at First Choice. Back pain? Pelvic pain? Other aches and pains? Schedule an evaluation with one of our physical therapist today to personally experience our state-of-the-art equipment and most of all, our healing hands on techniques.
Simon Haussmann, PTA