Medical Practice of the Year

Focus Physiotherapy Huntsville

By Claire Aiello
Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Focus Physiotherapy Huntsville won Medical Practice of the Year Award in the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber’s 2020 Small Business Awards. Focus Physiotherapy was founded in 2015 by Jonathan Zecher, a native of Huntsville with over 20 years of experience in patient care, teaching, and mentoring.

“We started with the goal to recruit and equip clinicians to provide expert, personalized physical therapy to our community,” said Zecher.

Focus Physiotherapy

Zecher started with one clinic in Huntsville five years ago. The team then expanded to Madison, and despite the financial uncertainties of 2020, recently opened a third location in Northeast Huntsville to serve areas including New Market, Gurley, Owens Cross Roads and greater Madison County. Focus Physiotherapy has now served more than 8,500 people through offering a comprehensive therapy approach to help people who suffer from pain because of injury or because of issues related to the normal aging process.

“At Focus we provide personalized, expert physical therapy and utilize the same physical therapist at every visit to foster a caring and trusting relationship. This approach addresses the emotional and behavioral needs that often go unaddressed in traditional physical therapy models and often leads to better and quicker outcomes saving the patient time and money,” said Zecher. “All of our therapists are trained to help clients with muscle and joint pain or injuries, including things like plantar fasciitis, arthritis, post-operative rehabilitation, neck and low back pain, headaches, TMJ, as well as dizziness and vertigo. We also offer wellness services to help people transition back to work, play, and life in general once they have overcome an acute injury or illness. Our therapists have additional training in areas such as advanced hands-on techniques and dry needling for the most complicated of cases.”

Focus stayed open through the pandemic, and actually saw a significant increase in patients who came in with neck pain and back pain, due to working from home – where most people don’t have ergonomic workstations like at the office.

“The greatest challenge for us was to provide care for these individuals when people were still in great fear of coming into a healthcare facility,” said Zecher. “However, our comprehensive plan to ensure we could protect our staff and our patients during the uncertainty of the pandemic has allowed us to serve our patients responsibly and effectively.”

What are the plans for the next 10 years? “The company would like to continue to grow its ability to serve the communities of North Alabama by adding practitioners who share our values and increasing the number of locations,” said Zecher.

He said winning the 2020 Small Business Award really encouraged the team, reinforcing that the values the company embodies are effectively building a strong business. “Even more importantly, we feel this award is affirmation that we are making a difference in a meaningful way in the lives of people in our community, which is what matters most to us,” he added.

Zecher offered this advice to others.

“One thing I feel makes any small business successful is the ability to find creative solutions to the challenges you face,” he said. “That depends on building a team who shares your values and vision but has a variety of strengths and perspectives to see opportunities from many angles.”

This article appears in the April 2021 issue of Initiatives magazine, a publication of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber.