PTW Institute Celebrates 10 Years of Changing Lives

A business can do a lot in 10 years.

For Physical Therapy and Wellness Institute, that means changing the lives of 21,000 patients and having 220,000 visits through the front doors of their four locations.

"That's a lot to be proud of, and it's because of the people that are here," said owner Robert Babb during PTW's 10th anniversary celebration last Thursday.

"We do pride ourselves on keeping our principles in mind. The reason why we are here today is to restate those principles and understand how important that is to have the patient feel like the patient's first, regardless of what the insurance says or regardless of what the case manager says. We remain flexible in all parts of our day."

Babb said July 3, 2002 was the first time that he and his wife, Diane, had the opportunity to go home and were almost in tears thinking what they just did by starting their own business.

"She said, 'We could just eat peanut butter and jelly for 10 years.' But we made it," he said.

Lansdale Mayor Andy Szekely presented a proclamation to Babb commemorating their milestone.

"I have known Bob since he first came out as a member of the Rotary Club in 2002. It's a pleasure to be here to celebrate 10 years that have gone by so quickly," Szekely said. "I know he has helped so many Lansdale residents, so many residents from the North Penn area, achieve wellness and fix their broken bodies and their joints."

He said PTW has also been instrumental in helping create the Broad Street ReRun, which benefits the Delaware Valley Chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation, as well as raising money for cardiac defibrillators that get donated to area agencies.

"On behalf of Lansdale and the North Penn community, thank you," Szekely said.

Babb thanked employees and various persons important to their decade of success, like Tom and Christina Rowe, Danielle Taylor and attorney Marc Davis.

"This is a day of firsts, and this is the first time we've ever celebrated any anniversary here at PTW, so it's kind of cool," Babb said. "I do believe 10 years is worthy of celebration."

Babb said he remembered the first phone call that occurred: Saturday morning, July 5, answered by his brother-in-law who was painting outside.

"He took the first phone call and three weeks later we saw our first patient," Babb said.

He said Tanya Bamford was instrumental in helping PTW brand itself and what it did at its first location in Quakertown.

"She pestered me and asked how we get our word out. She became vital in how we go about our business in the community," Babb said.

Babb credited Davis with helping start the Broad Street ReRun - he was working with Davis on an ailment, when Davis mentioned he was running in the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia.

"He said to me, 'Let's do a Broad Street Run here in Lansdale.' So we held onto that thought for a little while and lo and behold, the Broad Street ReRun was born," Babb said.

Two 10-year employees of PTW were honored for their service with a limo to Topper's Spa for the day.

Babb said the principles of PTW have never changed in the last decade.

"They were developed a long, long time ago, not by me, but by many businesses in the past, and that is what makes this business grow," he said. "With the PTW folks that are here, we appreciate how you help exceed expectations, how you help promote what we do to achieve our mission: To get folks to a higher level of performance, provide quality driven physical therapy, quantifiable fitness and wellness programs in an enthusiastically-driven way, all while having fun doing that."

He said he challenges PTW as an organization to continue to intellectually grow, to continue to personally improve and to continue to professionally challenge limitations at every step.

"(We are) here to formally rededicate ourselves to that mission so we can hope to be here 10 years from now," Babb said.

Pam Kelly, CEO of the , said her family has used PTW services for rehabilitation.

"We would like to congratulate you on your 10 years in business and your re-commitment to your community, your patients and your mission," Kelly said. "It's definitely an accomplishment worth celebrating."

Kelly said PTW has a goal to come together to support one another and the community, like the 700-member businesses at the chamber.

"PTW has exemplified that support both to the community and to its member businesses, and because of that, we are very thankful," Kelly said. "The best of luck."

After the ribbon cutting, Babb reflected on how he was told by the bank when he got his loan that most businesses don't survive after five years.

"When you get to 10," he said, "you feel like you belong to the community. It's about the people and having folks that live with our passion and understand us."

Babb said PTW has a "customer-first approach": Just like a consumer, the patient takes seven seconds to make a decision on who PTW is, and PTW has seven seconds to receive the patient with a smile and put the focus on them.

"We are honored to work with great people and honored people came out to see us," Babb said. 

PTW Institute has four locations:

Lansdale: 730 S. Broad Street

Montgomeryville: 800 Upper State Road

Quakertown: 1440 W. Broad Street

West Norriton/Trooper: 2456 W. Main Street