First Choice Healthcare Solutions Appoints Dr. Steve Ryland to Lead Major Expansion of Physical/Occupational Therapy Division

MELBOURNE, FL--(Marketwired - Feb 28, 2017) -  First Choice Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: FCHS) ("FCHS," "First Choice" or the "Company"), one of the nation's only non-physician-owned, publicly traded healthcare services companies focused on the delivery of total musculoskeletal solutions with an emphasis on Orthopaedics and Spine care, today announced that Steve Ryland, PT, DPT has been appointed to serve as the Company's Director of Physical/Occupational Therapy ("PT/OT"). 

In this role, Dr. Ryland will oversee the PT/OT Division and implement key expansion initiatives that will increase the number of First Choice-owned and operated, state-of-the-art PT/OT centers serving Florida's high growth Space Coast service region from one to five centers in 2017 -- with the second and third centers slated to open in March and the fourth and fifth center slated to open shortly thereafter. The new First Choice PT/OT centers will be strategically located throughout the service region, currently spanning 72 miles north to south on Florida's central east coast.

As the volume of both surgical and non-surgical patients served by First Choice's Medical Centers of Excellence in Brevard County have continued to increase through employment of additional world class physicians, so, too, has demand grown for best-in-class physical and occupational therapy services for thousands of First Choice patients. Whether prescribed for rehabilitation after a hip, shoulder or knee replacement or spinal fusion, or prescribed as conservative therapeutic care for a musculoskeletal condition or injury, PT/OT is a vital component of achieving optimal care outcomes for patients; and in many cases, PT may be mandated by a medical insurance payer prior to surgical remedies being pursued. 

According to Kris Jones, First Choice's Vice President of Medical Operations, "Our surgical and non-surgical Orthopaedic and Spine patients each require, on average, a PT/OT regimen of 10 treatment sessions with qualified therapists to achieve the best possible outcomes. Considering that the Space Coast service region covers such a broad geographic footprint, to help ensure compliance with prescribed rehabilitative treatment, our physicians and surgeons were having to refer patients to other PT/OT providers. With our planned geographic expansion and leveraging Dr. Ryland's expertise and leadership, not only will First Choice maintain payer compliance with PT/OT mandates, but more importantly, we will be able to provide all of our patients requiring rehabilitation with optimal choice and travel convenience while retaining management and control of their full episodes of care -- from diagnosis to treatment to recovery."