When she first started an out-of-home private practice in 2014 after the birth of her first child, Kendra Holloway, owner and clinic director of Columbia Pediatric Therapy, said she always thought that her business would stay small. Over the years, however, what started out as seeing a few patients per week out of her home has turned into two locations with 20-plus therapists and admin staff that allows them to see and help many more families.
“The growth of our clinic has been an organic response to the pediatric needs we’ve seen in the community,” Holloway said. “We started with speech therapy services, but overtime we’ve added occupational therapy and physical therapy as well. We consider what our community partners are sharing with us, what we see our current patients need and we try to provide the best services for those needs.”
Back when Holloway first decided to start her practice, she had gone back to work full time in early intervention and said she saw how much of a gap there was between parents, providers and specialized therapies. She knew she could be a bridge connecting functional therapy to those needing it and other community resources through private practice.
“After finishing up that school year I started seeing a few kids a week in their homes and out of my home office,” she said. “It was so amazing to watch a child build their skills, hit their developmental milestones and live easier lives through one-on-one therapy. One day, a patient asked if we could meet somewhere outside of their home, so I sought out a space to rent.”
Holloway found a local company that initially let her lease one room for one day a week, but she said that quickly grew into a handful of staff and filling five-plus rooms full time in the same building. In early 2022, Holloway moved the practice into their current treatment center at 16703 SE McGillivray Blvd., Suite 170, in Vancouver, which she said has been wonderful for their patients and staff. The second location was also recently opened at 13635 NW Cornell Rd., Suite 160, in Portland.
“Our mission is to help kids live their best lives,” Holloway said. “We have some wonderful colleagues in that area (Beaverton) that expressed a need for therapy there. We also have some staff that live nearby, so it made sense to open that location and continue supporting families as best we can.”
Current services that Columbia Pediatric Therapy offers include occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, oromyofunctional therapy and feeding therapy.
As a woman business owner herself, Holloway said that most professionals in the pediatric therapy industry are women, especially in speech therapy, and most pediatric clinics are owned by women. A majority of the management stuff at Columbia Pediatric Therapy are women, and Holloway said they are members of several larger organizations of private practice owners, most of which are also owned by women.
“These networks have been a fantastic resource for helping us manage the challenges of growth, and in helping us create a culture at our clinic where both men and women can use and grow their professional skills to help the kids in our community. We do our best to support our staff with their home responsibilities, so they can do their best to provide therapy services for the kids at our clinic.”
Holloway also said that many of the therapists and staff are working mothers, so they can connect in that way with the parents of children they help. She said the male therapists at the clinic also provide an important dynamic and are positive role models for the children they serve. They are able to connect in a similar way with fathers and male caregivers that bring in their children. Holloway said they try to find the right fit for the child/therapist dynamic at the clinic, which said is an advantage when there are several therapists to help.
“In my role as executive director at the clinic, I interact with other professionals in industries that include men,” Holloway said. “In those settings, I feel I’m treated as any other business owner, regardless of my gender and I appreciate that respect I’ve been given in the professional world. I like to think I carry myself in a way that welcomes feedback, honesty and respect.”
Holloway said that Columbia Pediatric Therapy has a high focus on continuing education for their staff. She said they regularly host staff team meetings for continued learning, provide educational presentations to physician and parent groups, and attend professional workshops for specialty treatment approaches.
“We know that the more we learn, the more we grow and the more of a positive impact we can have with our families and community,” she said. “We collaborate with other local clinics on a case-by-case basis to make sure our patients are getting the most quality care available. We are lucky to work with such talented teams in this area, and regular refer out when we feel it’s most appropriate for our patient.”
As far as what the future looks like for Columbia Pediatric Therapy, Holloway said they are hiring for several positions right now and have room to grow in their Beaverton location. The Beaverton currently has speech therapy, and they will be adding occupational therapy in the coming months. She said they will also be continuing to grow their specialty programs, which include feeding, augmentative and alternative communication (ACC), and oromyofunctional therapy.
