Cutting the ribbon are (in back, from left) are Doug Church, Roy Dimuna, Josh Yauger, Drew Turney, Vijay Shrestha, Dr. Folasade Bangali and Jennifer Rose, and (in front, from left) Marjorie Oboite and Martha Gebru.
East meets West at Beltway Medical Group, a new physical-therapy clinic in the former Bank of America building across from Fair Oaks Mall. Although it opened in November, it held its official ribbon cutting March 6 and invited the public to see what it has to offer.
“We want to introduce our physical therapy, plus yoga, meditation and sound-therapy services to the community,” said Dr. Folasade Bangali, the lead physical therapist. “We use all these things to promote healing, restoration and wellbeing.”
The three owners – Drew Turney, Vijay Shrestha and Josh Yauger – are all certified surgical assistants with at least 10 years’ experience each in hospital operating rooms. “It’s a full-circle moment for myself and my business partners,” said COO Turney. “We’re used to dealing with patients intraoperatively. But over the years, we developed a passion for patient care after accidents and surgery. We know the transformation that rehabilitation and recovery bring, and it’s truly a blessing to witness it firsthand.”
Sujen Karki creates sound waves in a bowl, making the water inside bubble up and rise.
So they decided to open their own outpatient, orthopedic, physical-therapy clinic. And this one offers the additional bonus of sound therapy – via “singing” bowls, gongs and flutes – in a tranquil environment, during patients’ individual journeys to wellness. It also deals with sports-injury treatment and prevention, plus chronic pain management, and helps people regain strength and mobility.
Located at 12011 Lee Jackson Memorial Hwy., Suite 103, Beltway Medical Group is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; phone 703-223-5980. It accepts all major insurance plans, as well as Medicare and self-pay.
So far, said Turney, “Business has been good and, every month, we’ve doubled in patients, due to social media and word of mouth. And as we continue expanding our number of patients, we hope to add one more physical therapist and another physical-therapy assistant. On average, most physical-therapy clinics have a 6-8-week wait just for patients to receive an initial evaluation. With us, you can be seen right away, with or without a referral; email us at bmg22033@gmail.com.”
Shrestha, the company’s CEO, explained why he wanted to participate in this venture. “After 16 years of working in the healthcare industry, as a veteran working with the military, going through Hurricane Katrina – and also surviving a rare tumor in 2015 that almost cost my life – the only thing that kept me going was the therapy,” he said. “So I wanted to give back to people and pay it forward with BMG.”
Company CFO Yauger said that, like Shrestha, “I also had a traumatic medical experience in the past, and that’s why physical therapy is so important. I had a heart transplant and I lived with an artificial heart. And if you guys have ever had a medical emergency, you know very well that having surgery is just step one – and it’s the fastest part. The real journey begins when you go to physical therapy.”
Unfortunately, though, he continued, “The way the market and the economy are, it’s usually done in a small, gym-like environment. But at BMG, we strive to make it different – more of an experience for people and our staff for continuity of care. That way, you look forward to going to physical therapy and to getting better and feeling better.”
Yauger said that continuum is critically important and is why they’re all there. “This is why we’re investing so much time, money and effort,” he added. “And it’s the reason we cultivated so many different relationships – and why, so far, we’re very successful. A lot of things define who I am; but what I am right now is someone who wants to support my fellow partners, Dr. Bangali and the staff. They’re all integral to what we’re trying to do and achieve.”
Agreeing, Turney told attendees, “We are here today to witness our vision, its execution and the hard work and dedication our staff has put into the development of Beltway Medical Group.” He then individually praised Bangali, physical-therapy assistant Roy Dimuna, and administrative staff members Marjorie Oboite and Martha Gebru.
Yauger then spoke about the intensive renovation of the building itself, transforming it from a bank to a medical clinic. Pointing at a particular spot, he said, “That’s where the vault was – and we had to pay someone to cut up the vault door and haul it away for us. Then, removing all the concrete rebar was also a huge effort. Construction took 10 months; but thankfully, it all worked out and came together really nicely.”
However, he said, opening Beltway Medical Group’s newest location is “just the beginning for us. We want to impact everyone in this region, so our goal is to eventually create a franchise, opening 10 different locations throughout Maryland, Virginia and [Washington], D.C. This one is our flagship location and is going to set the standard of who we are and what we’ll be doing in the future. What you see here will be replicated, over and over again.”
Basically, said Yauger, “We’re trying to help the community, help people and follow our patients from the operating room to physical therapy for continuity of care. They can always come back, and we’ll be here with open arms, waiting for them.”
Next, Bangali noted that, besides being the clinic’s director, she’s been a physical therapist in outpatient orthopedics for more than a decade. She’s also worked in skilled nursing, home health and telehealth. And during the recent ceremony, she gave kudos to Beltway Medical Group’s three owners.
“Without their vision, leadership and guidance, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” she said. “I like to call myself a change agent, and that’s why I’m here – to create a space for everyone to thrive and be well.” She, too, thanked Oboite and Gebru, for their office help, as well as “Sujen [Karki], our holistic guru.”
“He has 20 years’ experience, and he and all his sound-therapy equipment came from Nepal,” said Bangali. “He’s extremely talented and good at what he does. We’re so happy he’s here and a part of the team, and we’re looking forward to a long-term partnership.”
Karki leads patients in guided meditation, teaches them how to meditate on their own and introduces them to sound therapy. Giving visitors a demonstration of how his “singing” bowls, gongs and bamboo flutes produce different sounds, he explained how they work to enable people to relax and be less stressed in their daily lives.
“What I do has been practiced by Eastern Nepali and Tibetan monks for years and years,” he said. “I learned from a great master when I was 20 and he was 70.” Karki said the sounds he makes with his instruments produce frequencies which go into the body and are used by the mind to “take us to a different level and a different journey, helping us begin to understand who we are.”
“Our body is 70-80 percent water, and it has seven energy points, or chakras – seven frequencies, seven notes of music,” he continued. “When we listen to the pure sound of music, without lyrics to distract us, it evokes emotions because of the musical notes existing inside our body, so we relate to the music we’re hearing.”
Karki then rubbed a mallet around the outside rim of a bronze bowl containing water, and that action yielded a wave and a sound as the water bubbled up inside the bowl. “It looks like magic, but it’s not,” he said. “This does happen inside our body [in response to sound].”
The way it works, said Karki, is that “sound creates a wave inside you that helps you calm down, inhale deeper, get more oxygen and relax your entire body. That’s why we also teach special breath work here. When you take in more oxygen, you’re able to sleep better at night.”
For more information about Beltway Medical Group, go to www.beltwaymedicalgroup.com/.