“Always shoot for the stars,” shares Brian Sawyer, Springbrook’s newest physical therapist, who shines bright with the wealth of his experience and knowledge. The passion Brian has for physical therapy has only grown while working with the people he supports at Springbrook. Brian started at Springbrook in October 2023, and in that short time, he has shown great potential to improve the physical therapy facilities. “Brian came to us with so much experience, and we want him to be a voice in the development of programs at Springbrook,” expresses Occupational Therapist Karen Sacco, who works in Adult Therapy Services at Springbrook.
Brian knew at a young age that he wanted to pursue a career centered around physical therapy. When he suffered a sports-related injury in high school and was in physical therapy, he thought he wanted to work with athletes in physical therapy. While studying physical therapy, Brian worked with different populations, including the geriatric population. “I felt like I connected well with the geriatric population and thought I could make a big impact for this population,” Brian explains.
Brian earned his doctorate eleven years ago and continued his professional journey working at specialty care clinics in neurology, outpatient care clinics, and Elderwood at Waverly. Each role provided opportunities to learn and grow in his profession, but he wanted to earn his geriatric certified specialist (GCS)certification. This certification was no easy feat for Brian as it required at least five years of study, 2,000 hours in the specialization, reference letters from his employers, and the completion of a certification exam, which requires five to seven hours of work with approximately 300 exam questions. Brian successfully passed and earned his GCS certification.
When Brian decided to join the Springbrook team, he researched and learned how strongly the organization embodies the mission of “people helping people.” Brian shares how he saw the progressive growth that Springbrook has been making and took the opportunity. Karen Sacco shares, “The team is awesome, and we can do great things with Brian’s leadership.” Brian has become an integral part of the physical therapy team and is involved in multiple committees. He is involved with the Electronic Medical/Health Records, Co-Chair of the Safe Patient Handling Committee, and Sensory Park Garden committees. His most memorable Springbrook moment was playing the part of Santa during the holiday season last year. As a physical therapist at Springbrook, Brian dedicates his time to learning how to identify, improve, and amplify each person’s mobility. He focuses on lots of walking and how to improve balance while reducing the risk of falling for each person. He learns about each person’s mobility needs and designs wheelchairs and home exercise programs. In addition to supporting the people at Springbrook, he also provides training for the new employee orientation (NEO) program, another great opportunity for Brian to collaborate and establish connections.
Brian truly values forging connections with people at Springbrook. “You gotta love it,” Brian shares, “there needs to be a fundamental passion for what you do.” Springbrook is lucky to have such a shining star who has made, and will continue to make, a difference for people with developmental disabilities for a lifetime.