MyTherapyCompany and Shore Capital Form Leading School-Based Therapy Company
Boulder, CO – June 2014 – MyTherapyCompany, LLC (“MyTherapy”) announced today that it has completed a recapitalization and simultaneous acquisition of Cumberland Therapy Services, LLC (“Cumberland”) with Shore Capital Partners (“Shore Capital”). The combined company will continue to operate under both the MyTherapy and Cumberland brands through a holding company called Pediatric Therapy Services (“PTS”). Both companies provide speech language pathology (“SLP”), occupational therapy (“OT”) and related services to a variety of public school districts and private learning centers. PTS employs approximately 250 therapists providing services to more than 100 clients in 20 states throughout the U.S. PTS has more than 50 years of combined experience in therapy staffing and is believed to be a top 5 national provider of school-based therapy services.
MyTherapy was formed in 2007 by Michael McBurnie, the founder of Progressus Therapy, Inc. (“Progressus”), a pioneer in the school-based therapy market, which sold to Sylvan Education Solutions, Inc. in November 2003. McBurnie will serve as President of the newly created company and noted that, “The combination of Cumberland and MyTherapy creates a national school therapy provider with two distinct but highly complementary business models.” Cumberland has built a proprietary sales and recruiting organization focused primarily on small and medium sized school districts. MyTherapy has long-standing relationships with many of the largest school districts in the U.S. and offers differentiated managed therapy programs which often include on-site administrative support.
“Integrating Cumberland’s proprietary sales and recruiting model with MyTherapy’s managed therapy program creates a more formidable service provider able to meet a broad range of service needs. Both Cumberland and MyTherapy are deeply committed to driving positive outcomes for our school district clients, our therapists and the children we service,” said Ryan Kelley, founding Partner of Shore Capital and Chairman of PTS.
School districts are required by federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (“IDEA”), to provide specialized services to students who qualify. It is estimated that more than 6.5 million children now receive special services, such as speech and occupational therapy, through IDEA. Congress passed the first version of IDEA in 1975. The act was last reauthorized with amendments in 2004 and creates a national market for special education therapy services in U.S. public schools.
Cumberland and MyTherapy assist school districts with increasingly complex and important special education needs that are mandated by federal law. McBurnie notes that “Many school districts are finding that it is easier and more cost effective to utilize a third-party firm to recruit and manage qualified therapists rather than recruit them directly.” There is a well-documented shortage of qualified speech and occupational therapists and without year-round recruiting efforts, many schools have difficulty in recruiting therapists and coordinating the delivery of these specialized services. Companies such as Cumberland and MyTherapy work directly with the special education department of school districts to recruit therapists and help with the administration of services.