Pediatric Therapy Partners serves special needs children

Ausha Lyons has used electronic cochlear implants to help her hear since she was 15 months old. Lyons, who will be 3 years old in March, goes to Pediatric Therapy Partners for speech therapy twice a week. In the past year, her speech level has gone from zero to that of a 22-month-old, said her mother, Tracey Lyons of Lisbon, N.D.

“To now know that her life can be pretty normal is just amazing,” Lyons said.

Pediatric Therapy Partners is a Fargo business that provides physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services to special needs children.

Brian Borchardt, Stephen Olson and Janette Venaas-Gilbraith formed Pediatric Therapy Partners in July 2007. Before that, they worked individually in private practice.

Borchardt did physical therapy, Olson did occupational therapy and Venaas-Gilbraith did speech therapy. Since the services commonly go together, the therapists felt they could better serve their clients by joining forces.

“It was kind of like a one-stop shop,” Venaas-Gilbraith said. “A family could call us and we could meet all their needs.”

Three-year-old Allbri Schmitz of West Fargo sees Pediatric Therapy Partners therapists for speech and occupational therapy.

Her mother, Christine Schmitz, also works with Allbri at home. In the past four months, Allbri’s vocabulary has gone from five words to more than 30, Schmitz said.

“They make us feel like we really matter and Allbri matters to them,” she said.

Pediatric Therapy Partners also offers group therapies and special programming to help children with things such as feeding problems, sensory integration and strengthening brain processing skills.

“It’s maximizing those kids’ function and bringing them to levels that nobody ever thought they would reach,” Olson said.

The business works with people from birth through age 21. Most clients are from 1 to 10 years old.

Therapists typically work with children once or twice a week and give them home programming to work on between visits.

Pediatric Therapy Partners accepts most insurance policies, regardless of network affiliation, the owners said. They help patients get the equipment they need, connect them with resources, and work closely with insurance companies to make sure therapies are covered and there are no surprises in billing, the owners said.

“We’ve worked at large facilities and seen how pediatric therapy can kind of be an afterthought, and we’ve vowed that that wouldn’t be the case with us,” Borchardt said.

Therapists work with clients in their homes, in child care facilities or in the Pediatric Therapy Partners office. They offer home visits to within a 20-mile radius of Fargo.

When therapists started working with 3-year-old Greta Tangquist of Moorhead, she was connected to a ventilator, tubing and wiring. Having therapists come to their home made a huge difference, said Liz Tangquist, Greta’s mother.

“It was one less thing we had to do and worry about,” she said. “They just fit right into our family. They were so good – they never batted an eye when they saw all her tubes and wires.”

Greta couldn’t roll over or sit up when she went home after spending a year in the hospital after she was born. After two years with Pediatric Therapy Partners, she is walking and running, Tangquist said.

Pediatric Therapy Partners is building a new facility in the Urban Plains development off of 45th Street South between Mexican Village and Cheetah Mart in Fargo.

It will offer new services such as a pool, a therapy kitchen, a small sensory gym, and a large gym for running, jumping and climbing.

The new office will also have observation rooms so parents can watch their children through a one-way glass mirror.

The new facility is expected to open April 1.

“When we started this in 2007, we never anticipated it to take off this fast,” Borchardt said. “I think people, when it comes to their kids, really want to go the extra mile and seek out what’s best.”

Business profile: Pediatric Therapy Partners

Ownership: Brian Borchardt, Stephen Olson, Janette Venaas-Gilbraith

Where: 3003 32nd Ave S., Suite 9, Fargo

Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Contact: (701) 232-2340

Online: www.pediatrictherapypartners.com

Readers can reach Forum reporter Tracy Frank at (701) 241-5526

Tags: pediatric therapy partners, business profile, greta tangquist, little miracles, business, moms, health