By: Ben Peterson, PT – Chief Executive Officer, Partner
It’s hard to believe we are quickly approaching the mid-point of our ongoing 20-year celebration. 2023 has been, and will continue to be, an exciting year of celebrating all things ARC!
With anniversary celebrations of course, come reflections!
Reflection #1: I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing many old pictures of ARC in its younger years. And since several of us are in those pictures, I use the words “old” and “younger” in the most honorable of ways… Not only does seeing vintage pictures of our employees, business associates, and patients bring a smile to my face, seeing pictures of everyone’s loved ones, especially your kids and how fast they have grown up is even more sentimental. Reflecting on our ARC family as a group of people who have worked together for this long is what I need to remind me why I do what I do every day. So, I hope you will join me in reflecting this year!
We all need refreshment and encouragement at times. Even the strongest and most accomplished people, if they are honest with themselves, would tell you that they have had support and timely encouragement along their journey. In our current world, we need encouragement more now than ever! Many fields, including ours, are experiencing new challenges which have never been faced to their current degree. In our profession of PT and OT: declining insurance reimbursement, escalating expenses, and staffing shortages are just a few challenges among many others which bring on more grey hairs and wrinkles every time I look. There is also concern about the next generation: Will the current trends in our profession lead our talent away from our field? I certainly hope not.
Speaking of hope, I believe the hope of a brighter future is a significant factor in human behavior. If we knew without a doubt that we were headed towards victory, how would that belief affect our current behavior? Would the behavior influence the outcome? What do you believe?
Reflection #2: It was almost exactly 20 years ago to this day that ARC opened its first clinic in an industrial park in North Kansas City, MO off Front Street. For those of you who have driven down Front Street, I am sure you would agree that this is not the first place you would envision a Physical Therapy clinic should be! Business was very slow there for over a year, prior to moving the NKC clinic to its current location. I wonder what our founders Matt Condon and Kevin O’Rourke were thinking about ARC’s future after the first year. Fast forward 20 years later and ARC has just opened clinics #31 and #32 and has over 140 staff members! I don’t think anyone, even Matt or Kevin, would have predicted where we would be today. But what I do know without a doubt is those founders had hope of a better future. Not only did they have hope, they made up their mind they were going to do something about the problem they saw. Though the environment in 2003 was much different than our current landscape, it brings up the question “what will we do to help solve the problems of today’s marketplace?” As we strive to answer this question and wonder about the future, I love that I can quickly reflect to what it was like 20 years ago. A bunch of people who knew nothing about what the future held, and who quite possibly didn’t know the full scope of what we were doing! Why did it work? It worked out because we believed in each other, we supported and encouraged each other as we worked together to be a catalyst of change in the marketplace.
Final reflection: Here we are 20 years later with these reflections, as we begin to look forward to the next 20 years. What will we reflect on in another 20 years? Not sure, but what I do know is that I still have great hope for the future and believe that we can make it bright together! Looking forward to another 20 years of being a Catalyst of Change in the Marketplace by Redefining Excellence in Healthcare with the best team in the business!
