Open Door Pediatric Therapy enlists parents as treatments shift online.
Michelle Mitcham, co-owner of Open Door Pediatric Therapy, says one of the most effective ways her Houston-based company ensures the kids they treat are making progress is by turning their parents into what she calls “mini-therapists.”
Little did she know how vital that would be this year.
Since opening in 2015, Mitcham and co-owner Amber Humphrey have steadily grown Open Door Pediatric Therapy in Cypress into a $2 million-a-year business through a combination of complementary skills and a multidisciplinary approach that includes speech, physical and occupational therapy among its 20 employees.
The pair were named Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Houston district office. SBA District Director Tim Jeffcoat, in a statement last month, praised them as “two energetic, caring professionals that have created a wonderful business to care for children with a variety of special needs in a laughter-filled, relaxing and safe environment.”
With patients ranging from 3 months to 21 years old (most are between 2 and 8 years old), Open Door doubled its space to 13 therapy rooms totaling about 4,500 square feet two years ago, expanded its patient base to about 500, and had projected its 2020 revenue to be in the $2.7 million range. With conditions ranging from autism to cerebral palsy to Down syndrome, many of the company’s patients arrive at Open Door Pediatric Therapy without being able to speak, walk or eat solid foods.
With Mitcham motivated by her volunteer work at a specialneeds school in Austin, and Humphrey attracted to physical therapy as a child after seeing her mother be treated for back problems, the two worked together at a Medicaid clinic before deciding to found their own business. They credit a holistic approach to therapy that’s garnered them enough of a reputation to expand their customer base with little more than references from Texas Children’s Hospital and wordof-mouth via “mommy blogs.”
“We see good outcomes because we’re working on the foundational reasons why there’s a deficit to begin with,” said Humphrey. “Our world is to be a detective, to figure out why. It’s a different approach than a medicinal approach.”
Aly Fitzpatrick said Open Door Pediatric Therapy was the first to ascertain — correctly — that her twin boys had “tonguetie,” in which a tongue’s range of motion is restricted because of a piece of tissue that attaches much of the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. Subsequently treated with an out-patient procedure, the boys’ progress in both eating and speaking immediately took hold. Preparing to both enter first grade, Charlie, who was born with cerebral palsy and spina bifida, continues to receive physical therapy, while Henry receives occupational therapy.
“When we went to Open Door, neither of the boys were talking, and they were 3, so it was a big problem,” said Fitzpatrick. “Now, they talk up a storm.”
Such therapeutic efforts took on a whole new meaning in March when COVID-19 forced many local businesses to shut down. Within four days, the company went completely to “teletherapy,” making the teamwork with “mini-therapist” parents all the more vital.
“We refused to let our patients and therapists down. That was not an option,” said Mitcham. “You ‘bun up’ and you find a way.”
Having gradually brought its therapists and patients back to the office since May 11 — about 10 percent of the company’s sessions are still virtual — Open Door Pediatric Therapy has made the type of changes that are familiar with many mid-pandemic businesses, including extensive cleaning, rolling partitions, omnipresent hand sanitizers, socially distanced lobby chairs and shoe stations.
“It’s a little sterile,” said Humphrey. “We’re ready to get back to where there’s laughter in the lobby.”