It has been a busy first week of business for newcomer Phil Smith at his physiotherapy clinic on Miles Street, Mount Isa.
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The Englishman opened Total Physio Isa on Monday after he and a business partner noticed a lack of services in the North West region.
“We felt that we could provide more services to the area, we’re trying to fill the gap,” Mr Smith said.
Mr Smith said it can be hard for regional and remote areas to have access to good physio services.
“It’s a pretty large town, there’s a lot of people here, a lot of sport here, a lot of occupational work, and we felt that the current services didn’t quite fit the bill.
“You do get some services that are available maybe once a month, so it’s good to provide more of a regular service for people,” Mr Smith said.
Total Physio has multiple rooms for different specialist services such as the Shockwave therapy device which treats tendon pain and foot pain.
The Orthotic Lab is a specialty service offering state of the art technology to treat clients with foot problems.
“You walk over the foot plate and it gives a dynamic look at people’s fee, and then we can organise custom podiatry made orthotics,” Mr Smith said.
The clinic also has a fully functional multi-gym for rehabilitation purposes, including a pilates machine.
“If you go to the city, all these things are there,” he said.
“I want a city standard clinic in a rural area,” he said.
Mr Smith studied physiotherapy in his hometown of London, and has 10 years of experience in the industry.
Since relocating to Australia five years ago, Mr Smith has worked in Central Queensland and the Gold Coast.
The clinic will initially be open from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, and Saturday mornings from 8am to noon.
Mr Smith is the sole physiotherapist for now, but he has a new staff member starting in four weeks.
“My plan is to have three or four physios here long term, and I’m currently interviewing for different specialties and areas of interest so we can broaden our service a bit,” Mr Smith said.
For clients further afield, Mr Smith’s practice will also provide services to Cloncurry once a week, operating out of Flinders medical centre on a Wednesday morning.
After living in Gladstone for the last few years Mr Smith has had a great first impression of Mount Isa.
“I love Mount Isa so far, it’s a couple of minutes to work from home, a couple of minutes to get to the gym,” Mr Smith said.
“I play soccer, so I’ve already got involved with Atlas soccer team,” he said.
Total Physio Isa is now open at 2/14 Miles Street, Mount Isa.
