When multiple company buyouts and changes in managed care forced Greg Sampson to leave his physical therapy career in the mid-90s, he appeared headed for a new field: logging, excavating and such. Compelled by his wife to reconsider his new “farmer type” occupation, and to cater to the needs of young athletes like their sons, Sampson took the challenge.

The result was bodylink, a new approach to physical therapy that takes the concept of the field to a new level, an integrated and innovative way to deliver services to the public. At the surface, bodylink is a hip, energetic place for youngsters and elders to improve their bodies and attitudes, no matter how fit, injured or athletic they are. But bodylink transcends the obvious physical results to become more: a new way of looking at health care and physical education.

“As a medical profession, we need to do a better job of getting people into better shape,” says Sampson, a physical therapist with more than two decades of experience. As managed care continues to make insurance plans more expensive but less comprehensive, he says less people will be choosing “the Cadillac plans” that will become available—and the answer is prevention.

“It’s critical to look at the cultural shift in kids’ exercise level,” he says. “If you don’t focus on kids….you’re setting yourself up as a trainer for an Rx mode down the road.”

bodylink offers a variety of services, including physical therapy, personal training and nutrition. But Sampson keeps his eyes on the young generation, whether they are athletically minded or not. There is just one requirement when they come into the door: motivation. They must want to do the work to see results—and that applies to any age. Of course, sometimes the motivation comes with time.

One program designed especially for youth is Frappier Acceleration, a system of training licensed to bodylink exclusively in this geographic area. Based on extensive research and patented equipment, Frappier guarantees enhanced athletic performance. Although it’s geared for athletes and youth as young as 8, Sampson says all ages and physical types can benefit, and those not in a particular sport could potentially see even greater results—from improved balance and coordination to better self-esteem and discipline.

bodylink doesn’t believe in a band-aid approach to pain, injuries or other problems. When clients come in, they will be engaged into long conversations and examination of their medical history and habits that help define the root of their problem rather than a temporary fix.

“We look at the problem in a broader spectrum, at the whole picture…so we can understand how they got that injury or problem,” Sampson says. “Unless you identify how they got there, you can only use the band-aid approach and not understand the problem.”

Understanding is not always easy. Figuring out “where the first dominos fall” means listening to the stories the clients tell about their choices, jobs, changes, trial and errors. But understanding is only the first step. A person must be motivated to show results—even if sometimes it means pushing that person a little.

Samson says bodylink is not for everyone. But he will tell a person if he can’t improve a situation, then try to help find someone who can. This honest approach has not only been appreciated by clients, but by physicians as well—who often use bodylink as a way to confirm their own diagnosis.

Sampson’s team of about 30 people at the two locations in Silverdale and Port Orchard includes several physical therapists who have been in the field for one or two decades each. The Olympic rowing team, the Mariners, the Northwest Ballet, U.S. military reservists—they have helped a wide spectrum of needs.

The bigger need, however, is to bring the importance of physical therapy to the spotlight, Sampson says. Chiropractors and massage therapists have done a good job educating the public about their importance, and it’s time for physical therapists to come forward, he says.

And that’s where the word “link” perhaps fits his company best: building that understanding, along with a new group of consumers who are not only aware of their possibilities, but are ready to see a standard and a measurable system for achieving their goals. “I am really hoping I can standardize the style of operations and offer it to other licensed therapists around the country,” Sampson says. Guaranteed results may be a concept not used in this line of practice very often, but looking at what Sampson has done with bodylink, the idea does not seem that far off at all.