Shortage of professionals, high clinician salaries and reimbursement issues trigger move
By Stefan Yablonski
In early October, Michele R. King started a new job. But she is still doing what she has been doing for nearly 20 years.
She and Jason A. Myers, former owners of Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers, Inc., joined the Oswego Health Therapy Services team. She closed her business and started Oct. 10 with Oswego Health.
King specializes in orthopedic and neurological hand therapy and upper-quarter rehabilitation. She uses evidence-based practices and therapeutic techniques to support patients in regaining function and independence with the use of their upper extremity.
She is now treating patients at the Oswego clinic located at 300 Route 104 East. Myers will treat patients at the Fulton clinic at 510 S. Fourth St.
“I started with Adirondack Therapy in 2006 in Watertown. I opened an Oswego office in 2008. We expanded to the property on East First Street in 2010 and increased the services that we were offering. I was just offering occupational therapy originally and then we added services to include physical therapy,” she said. “In 2018 we became part of Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers in order to bring specialized balance and vestibular services to the clinic as well as pelvic health. In 2021 we opened up a Fulton location, so we had two offices.”
Changing times
“But then things got really changed over the course of our time in private practice. It is becoming more and more difficult to be in private practice now in New York for physical and occupational therapy,” she added. “This [move] was a nice opportunity for us. Oswego Health has been wonderful. We are thrilled to be a part of the Oswego Health team now. We did have conversations and it was a mutually beneficial move for us and for them. They are getting two senior level clinicians with my business partner and myself. And I have some hand therapy that they didn’t have.”
With the changes in private practice, it was a good time to make a different move. It just kind of all worked out and came together, according to King.
“There already was an out-patient office over here [at the Oswego clinic]. There are two other physical therapists here. They were offering physical therapy and now they can also offer occupational therapy,” she said.
A lot of her clients followed her — “Yes that was wonderful,” she added.
Hospital out-patient clinics do make more money than private practices per visit just because they bill under a facility code and so their reimbursement rates are different than King’s were.
“They have always generated more revenue than we were able to. We were still able to run a successful business; being able to keep up in the marketplace with salaries and benefits and all that. What has changed is the salaries of entry level clinicians. They have kind of gone through the roof. There are a lot of different reasons why that is happening,” she said. “The biggest reason is that physical therapists have to have a DPT now — they have to have a Doctor of Physical Therapy. So, they are coming out of school — and occupational therapists too — they’re coming out of school with a lot of student loan debt.
“So, they need to take jobs where they are making more money. That has driven up some of the salaries. The other thing that has also driven the increase is just the scarcity of physical therapists. There is a shortage nationally and that impacts us,” King said. “You add the shortages and the salary going through the roof and some of the physical therapy legislation in New York. It’s also a challenge because in New York state in order for a physical therapy assistant to practice the physical therapist has to physically be in the building. If you only have two physical therapists in two locations, if somebody needs a day off you are short-staffed. We have been running short staffed for quite a while and just couldn’t get the providers that we needed to successfully run the practice the way it needed to be.”
All of that came into play when she made the decision to come on board with Oswego health.
Every single person that she has interacted with at Oswego Health “has been phenomenal and top notch. They kind of rolled out the red carpet for us and given us a really warm start,” she added.
King holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in occupational therapy from Russell Sage College, where she graduated magna cum laude and served as president of the Student Occupational Therapy Association. King has extensive experience managing outpatient clinics, providing post-surgical care for patients with hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder conditions, including custom splinting. She has developed both vestibular and pelvic health programs in her previous role and has coordinated pediatric services.
“I went right from high school and I had my master’s by the time I was 23,” she said. “I have been married for 19 years [husband Eric] and have two boys, Ethan and Grady, in high school at Oswego. One is a senior and one is a freshman. My oldest is going to go for mechanical engineering and I think my youngest is going to go for pre-law. They will definitely be doing different things than what I’m doing.
The secret to her success while in business, she said, is outstanding patient care. “People know we are giving it our all and providing as much value within therapy sessions to help patients recover and achieve their goals as quickly as possible,” she explained. “We put the patient’s needs and care above all else,” she said.
