DEVELOPMENT
PHOTO: COURTESY OF KINGS PHYSIOTHERAPY CLINIC
Clockwise from centre: Monique Comeau; Patty Rose, Kim Kerr, Nicole DeEll and Shelley Fleckenstein.
STRONG FEMALE LEADERSHIP
raised Director of Finance and Administration Nicole DeEll, grew up across the Maritimes, Fleckenstein says it’s no coincidence that all chose to make their lives in the Annapolis Valley. “That’s the draw of Wolfville and the Valley community,” she says.
Fleckenstein began inviting some employees to become co-owners as a way to reward loyalty and spread the responsibilities of ownership. “I had a lot on my plate as a businesswoman and a mother,” she says. All the current owners juggle running the practice with busy personal lives. “We embrace a work-family balance here,” Rose says, “and support each other in being involved parents as well as strong business leaders. We all cover for one another so no one misses a Christmas concert or hockey game.”
GROWTH THROUGH RISK
PAY IT FORWARD
When Kings opened, it was one of the only stand-alone physiotherapy clinics in the area. “The situation presented an opportunity, but also a challenge,” Fleckenstein says. “I had to persuade referral sources to support a different practice. I put on a business suit and went door-to-door. I opened the clinic in October, and by Christmas we were run off our feet.” It was around this time that Comeau, fresh out of Dalhousie, was searching for her first physiotherapy job. She visited Kings to inquire about openings. “You walked in the door and I said, ‘You’re hired!’” Fleckenstein laughs. Though she was glad of the help, Fleckenstein says hiring Comeau was a leap of faith. “We didn’t have enough work for another full-time physiotherapist,” she says, “so I stepped away from some of my caseload to help build hers.” The risk paid off, and there were soon enough clients to keep all the staff busy. It’s through this spirit of risk-taking that Fleckenstein, and later the other owners, grew Kings over the next two decades. As well as serving clients from local towns, Kings has established contracts with employers, nursing homes, workplaces and schools as far as Bridgewater and Yarmouth, and serves clients traveling from distant areas in the southwest region.
Kings prides itself also on community-mindedness. “It’s part of our underlying philosophy; we discuss it with every candidate we interview,” Fleckenstein says. Comeau works to promote health and wellness in the community through partnerships with local organizations like the Kentville Squash Club and Valley Indoor Soccer. The clinic invests in non-health related groups too, and every month supports at least one local cause through an event, collection or donation. The team also pursues ways to sustain links with Acadia. Kings sponsors Acadia hockey and in 2014 the Shelley Fleckenstein Athletic Award was established to help a female student-athlete interested in a health care career. Keen to strengthen ties with Acadia’s kinesiology and biology departments, Kings hosts students for work experience “as a way to ‘pay it forward’ and to help future recruitment,” Fleckenstein says. It’s easy to see why an ongoing relationship with Acadia is important to the four women. “People see us as a strong business, but also a strong family,” Rose notes, “and we credit our Acadia family for launching us on this incredible career path.”
ACADIA BULLETIN Fall 2015
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