Jennifer Nieset experienced physical therapy as an injured junior high athlete, and after that she knew that she wanted to help others. But after two decades in the field, she found herself in an exhausting work environment and was often frustrated by interactions with health insurance companies. “When you’re told by insurance companies what you can and cannot treat, it’s very often not in the best interest of the patient, and so just through a series of life events that happened in my own life, I started to discern a calling that it was time to do something different,” Nieset said. “I wanted to offer a solution or a change that provided physical therapy in a way that I knew that patients needed and deserved in order to get them better quickly and to overcome some of the obstacles to access,” she added later. That calling led Nieset to start Fit 4 Life Physical Therapy in Concord Township, which provides out-of-network care that is not limited by insurance policies. The practice recently celebrated its five-year anniversary. She said Fit 4 Life offers outpatient, orthopedic services, treating pain in areas like the neck, shoulders, back, knees and ankles. The practice has experience treating athletes, and its staff have previously been involved in athletic activities – Nieset said that many in her family are runners, while Fit 4 Life physical therapist Raven Anspach has experience as a track and field athlete and figure skater. Nieset said the practice also collaborates with businesses on workplace safety, offers services to help people prevent injuries and analyzes patients as they walk, since the spine can be affected by the way that the feet impact the ground when walking. One patient at the five-year anniversary event said that he needed a cane and was “barely able to walk” when he first came. He added that Nieset “rejuvenated” him. Nieset said that she wants the practice to be the place that patients go to first when they are injured. Ohio allows direct access to physical therapy, meaning that patients do not need a doctor’s referral to visit. “Barring an obvious injury, such as a fracture, where it’s appropriate to be seen by medical doctors first – oftentimes, we are the experts that, if something more sinister is going on, that is our job to be able to identify and refer you out,” she said. “But many, many times, we get patients in the same day or the next day and we get people the diagnosis.” Sometimes the problems are more serious. Nieset said that one patient came from primary care with a diagnosis of a pinched nerve. She and Anspach realized that it was something more and advocated for the patient, and he eventually received a cancer diagnosis. “We were able to help him get to the right providers and get the right care,” she said. “I just think that’s an important story to share because sometimes more sinister things do present themselves and people think that it’s something orthopedic, and it is our job to know when we’re dealing with something that is more sinister than another.” Nieset said that the practice has drawn patients from across Lake County, as well as Chardon and Euclid. She believes that the one-on-one relationships that Fit 4 Life forms with patients set it apart. “We are small and it’s an intimate setting, so when you walk in the door at Fit 4 Life, you will feel the difference,” she said. “That’s been an important priority of mine, that it doesn’t feel like a traditional, fast-paced physical therapy office, that you will come here, you will feel the calm and warming, healing atmosphere when you enter.” “It’s always just you and the therapist that evaluates you, treats you all the way through to the end,” Nieset added later. “And your story is important to us. We will take the time to listen to that. And it just – this is the place that you can come to have your story be heard or to get answers to what’s hurting you and to help get you back on track to living your best, fit life.” Over the past five years, the practice has grown from operating in a 500-square-foot basement to its current second-floor suite. Nieset said that she faced a learning curve in running a business, but she was able to establish the practice while working by herself. About two and a half years into running the practice, she realized she wanted to have more of an impact. She brought in a business coach, front desk staff and Anspach, and they moved to their current suite soon after that. The office now includes a community room with monthly community events, two physical therapy rooms and a fitness studio. Nieset said that there are also spaces that are used by the practice’s “partners in health.” “Our mission is to help people overcome pain and injury quickly so they can get back to doing what they love,” she said. “Obviously, the platform that we stand on is that we want to be the person you think of first to sort of prevent some of the frustrations that can happen in traditional health care with access and getting access to what you need.” Fit 4 Life Physical Therapy is located at 7555 Fredle Drive, Suite 240, in Concord Township. More information is available at fit4lifephysicaltherapyohio.com.