From the President

By Mike Horsfield, PT, MBA

Dear Friends,

Witnessing Mother Nature transform the barren brown landscape of the Midwest
into lush green bountiful fields each spring is magical.

Less noticeable is the discipline, optimism, and stewardship of the farmer
that prepares the canvas for her masterwork. The one who performs the hard
work and imperfect calculations is determining how much to take from the land
for this year’s harvest and how much to reinvest for their grandchildren.
Called by a responsibility to leave the land more fertile than they found it.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the stewards of our great profession. Those
who provided us the privilege and responsibility of caring for this beautiful
and maturing landscape of opportunities. One in which the world, starving for
a solution to fix healthcare, is increasingly turning to us for that answer.
Endless possibilities unfortunately not immune to the laws of economics. The
merging storm fronts of rising education costs and declining payment are
making it increasingly difficult to cultivate our profession’s future while we
take care of our communities’ current needs. Complex and interrelated issues
that will require all of us to stop pointing fingers and quickly lock arms
with others who embrace the obligation we have to future professionals and the
future of our profession.

In February, our Payment Consortium with the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical
Therapy had its kick-off meeting. In cooperation with APTA, this adds
resources and a coordinated offensive strategy focused on improving access and
payment at the State level. Making it easier for you to ensure everyone in
your community gets the care they deserve is the goal.

APTA Private Practice is also committed to helping our friends in education
ensure a physical therapy degree is accessible and financially sustainable.
Along with multiple other stakeholders we have joined the APTA led
Collaborative for Physical Therapy Education. We are committed to do our part
to ensure the cost of high-quality education does not adversely affect the
health of our professionals, our practices, or our profession.

Gathering at conferences brings back the familiar feelings of hope,
accomplishment, and community that harvest and planting season brought on the
farm. With age, I have come to appreciate the value of all the cultivating,
fertilizing, and caring that occurred when no one was around. Hard, solitude,
thankless, and often invisible work reserved for Dad. The one who would bear
the consequences of not taking great care of the seeds, plants, and soil.
Thank you for choosing to be like “Dad.” For caring enough to do the hard work
necessary to leave our professional land better than you found it.

Together . . . we got this!