Parker: Momentum Health on a growth path

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The word “entrepreneur” describes almost anyone who has the courage to start a new business, but to find the best meaning one only has to sit down for a chat with Wendy Coombs.

She is on the board of Alberta Women Entrepreneurs and recently completed her term as president of the Calgary chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

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But it is the success of Momentum Health, her growing group of six multidisciplinary rehabilitation clinics that has defined her leadership role in the local business community.

Armed with degrees in physiotherapy and psychology from the University of Alberta, Coombs bought the first private clinic she walked into, branded it Advantage Health and built it up to a seven-clinic business. The demands of looking after two small children led her to sell to a national company, but she kept one clinic along with business partner Shaun Macauley, also a physiotherapist who has worked across a broad range of rehabilitation — from lecturing on injury prevention to young athletes to treating chronic pain.

Together they mulled over what was being done in health care, and Calgary’s needs.

The result was a rebranding of the company as Momentum Health and they worked together to build a dream team of professionals offering all disciplines under the rehabilitation umbrella.

With a focus on evaluation, prevention and the right treatment to help clients get back to work, sport and play, Coombs oversees an organization that has grown to include six Momentum Heath clinics around the city, two Evidence Sport and Spine clinics, and two Innovative Sport Medicine clinics.

A staff of 150 offers physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage therapy, psychology, acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, kinesiology and personal training, as well as retail sales in exercise equipment and bracing.

Momentum has been awarded contracts to take care of members of the Calgary Police Service, the Alberta Ballet Company and the School of Alberta Ballet. Business development manager Blair Puente performed with the National Ballet of Canada and Alberta Ballet, and danced in the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Innovative Sport Medicine is run by a staff of experienced practitioners in the fields of sport, including Kelly Brett, for 20 years team physician with the Calgary Flames, Hitmen and Canons, and who travelled internationally with Hockey Canada and the Canadian men’s rugby team.

Willem Meeuwisse is an expert group member of the International Olympic Committee, medical director for the NHL and currently serves as senior associate editor of the British Sports Journal. Marcus Robinson, who holds a master’s degree in biomechanics and biomechanical engineering, is a medical doctor and earned a fellowship in sports and exercise medicine.

The professionals in all of the clinics work collaboratively with the other venues to meet the needs of clients, as well as including family doctors as part of the team, enabling them to offer treatments that get a person back to full recovery from a variety of conditions.

Momentum Health also offers select fitness courses to prepare people for skiing and the golf season, as well as directing the best exercises while waiting for surgery on knees and hips.

Coombs is developing new programs for her clinics besides continuing her volunteer work, as well as being a mentor with the Venture Membership Service of Alberta, helping build better entrepreneurs to build better companies.

She’s certainly done that.

Notes:

• Bill Chomik, principal Kasian Architecture, was introduced at the recent International Planetarium Society conference in Toulouse, France, as “the most experienced planetarium architect in the world” in co-presenting three design workshops with Arizona architect Tim Barry. Chomik was also a panellist discussing good business cases for communities to support building planetariums, facilitated by Bill Peters, Calgary consultant and former CEO of the Calgary Science Centre.

• The University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design has been granted a new Master of Landscape Architecture program by the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. It is a three-year program taking students through specialized courses dealing with design theory, environmental and land-use issues, and the use of landscape construction technologies.

David Parker appears regularly in the Herald. Read his columns online at calgaryherald.com/business. He can be reached at 403-830-4622 or by email at info@davidparker.ca.