A new pediatric outpatient therapy clinic with OT/ ST in need of funds to build our sensory gym and grow the company in order to service more children in the area.
Business Description The Grace Circle is an occupational and speech therapy clinic servicing children with various developmental disabilities, diagnoses, and sensory needs. The company was formed on 10/04/2023 as a Limited Liability Company under Alabama state laws and headed by Jessica Gibson and Grace Purvis.
Jessica Gibson, M.S. OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist with 16-years of experience in a variety of settings including neonatal intensive care, early intervention, public school systems, and three different local outpatient therapy companies. She graduated from UAB in 2008. She has certifications in the SOS Feeding Program, Therapeutic Listening Program, and Interactive Metronome.
Grace Purvis, COTA/L is also a pediatric occupational therapist who has worked in pediatric outpatient clinics since she graduated from Wallace State in 2022. She has a great deal of experience working with children with Autism, ADHD, trauma, and other sensory processing disorders. She is developing her skills and working towards her certification in hippotherapy to add a needed and beneficial modality to this area to build strength, awareness, and coordination in children and teens with developmental disabilities and volunteers her services at a local not-for-profit organization, Spirit Horse Therapeutic Riding Center.
The Grace Circle began as a private traveling occupational therapy service to daycares and private schools in the area, who do not have the school therapy services public schools provide. The company has only included the current 2 founding employers; but with the high demand of children in need of these services, the Grace Circle wishes to expand to both school and outpatient clinic services. The company has leased a building and currently accepting referrals from local pediatricians and interviewing potential employees who are interested in working in this diverse environment. The company hopes to work towards a team of 3 full-time occupational therapists and 3 full-time speech-language pathologists within the first 6-months, bringing in more revenue and forming greater working relations among referring pediatricians. The Company also has the intent to hire a receptionist and certified billing and coding specialist, totaling 8 employees.
Business Mission
The Grace Circle’s mission is to help children reach their greatest potential by targeting the root of the developmental delay and helping them gain independence, improve functional performance, and enhance social and emotional development through a multi-disciplinary and multi-sensory approach.
Therapy Services
The Grace Circle is prepared to grow speech and occupational therapy services in this area to help meet the high demand and need for both services.
Speech therapy will be offered to provide a variety of services from feeding therapy, oral-motor skills, early speech and language development; to more specific delays that can include articulation, phonetic skills, more profound language deficits, augmentative communication skills, stuttering, apraxia, and more.
Occupational therapy will be offered to provide a variety of services from sensory-based feeding issues, fine motor delays, gross motor delays, handwriting and visual motor deficits, reflex integration, sensory integration and self-regulation, praxis skills, executive functioning, and more.
Funding Request
With the growth of the company, there comes new costs that are needed upfront to build our sensory gym, supply therapists with a small work space, and potentially help fund paychecks through the first month as reimbursement from insurance companies can take up to 30 days to receive. The Grace Circle is seeking financial backing to help these up-start costs and get the clinic running by May 2024. To meet all of these needs, the company would need $50,000. The funds we are requesting is to be used for the following purposes:
Funding will be needed to cover the start-up costs that include the second month's rent, office supplies and furniture, standardized tests required by insurance companies, and a sensory gym that is a large one-time expense and includes framing for suspension swings, slides, stairs, rock wall, ball pit, crash pads, weighted blankets, lights, and therapy balls. The funding will also help cover salary expenses for the first month until insurance reimbursement is deposited by June for May services. The salaries included in this amount include both owners, receptionist, billing specialist, and 4 additional therapists. The company currently has 80% private pay clients in which payment is received at the time of service; but now that insurance is being offered, most families will seek to utilize their insurance policies, and this reimbursement would actually be higher than the private pay rate, plus the company would be taking co-pays at the time of service, so there will be immediate revenue accumulating, but not enough to cover the total up-front costs.
Target Markets
The Grace Circle primarily will target early developing children who are just being diagnosed or realizing a delay in speech, motor skills, or play. However, we will welcome any child between birth and 18-years of age with an area of concern that falls within the scope of practice for speech and occupational therapy.
Currently, all existing outpatient clinics within a 50 mile radius have a waiting list for occupational and speech therapy services from 6-months to a year out. The demand is incredibly high, and there are 2 other clinics in the Montgomery area, but both have waiting lists at present with expected wait times ranging from 6-months to 9-months. The Grace Circle has developed good relationships with local pediatricians who have encouraged the opening of this clinic due to the current needs for children in the Montgomery and surrounding areas. With an anticipated start date in May, we have already begun to accept new referrals and scheduling evaluations this month of April in hopes to have full or near-full bookings to cover May, and we will continue to add therapists and build caseloads until full.
Promotional Strategy
The Grace Circle will not need much promotion to build our client lists, but we have prepared the following to help get the word out for our new location and upcoming services. We have hand-delivered fliers to local pediatrician offices. We are being shared and followed on Facebook and Instagram and currently working on a company website. Word of mouth is most often the fastest way for a brand to spread in this industry, and we feel confident our quality and integrity will place us as one of the best in the area. What makes this company's model different is the quality it places on the therapists as well as their families. Other clinics encourage parents to stay out of therapy services which creates a barrier of learning for the parent to carryover interventions at home. These clients are complex and require more than a visual handout or verbal report. Another difference in this company will be the focus on decreasing therapists turn-over rates by decreasing productivity expectations, providing a change in environment with school and clinic settings, and allow for planning and documentation time. This focus will help avoid or decrease therapist burnout and increase quality of services, so that children are not on a caseload for an indefinite amount of time but revolving in and out of therapy based on developmental level and parent education. By focusing on parent education, therapy will be incorporated on a day-to-day basis, not just the 30 minute to 45 minute sessions once/ twice a week. Discharge planning will be the focus from the start which will have children constantly moving on and off the schedule and keep waiting lists/ times much lower.
Services
First-rate service is intended to be the focus of The Grace Circle and a cornerstone of the brand's success. All clients/ families will receive conscientious, one-on-one, timely services in all capacities, be they transactions, conflicts, or complaints. High integrity and quality of services by means of staying current with “best practice” through continuing education and trainings. This is expected to create a loyal brand following and return business.
