After five years of steady growth despite opening just before the pandemic, Axis Physiotherapy Institute is expanding to its third location in Destin. The new clinic at 34894 Emerald Coast Pkwy will open May 5, offering their full range of physical therapy services to the Destin community. 

• The Destin location marks the realization of a five-year goal for co-owners Dr. Jordan Brewer and Dr. Matthew Leary, who started their first Fort Walton Beach clinic in February 2020, just weeks before COVID-19 restrictions began. 

“If we can survive getting through Covid, we can survive anything,” Brewer said. “We were fortunate to be in the medical field and were able to keep our doors open rather than shut down completely.” 

Despite the timing, the practice thrived by focusing on personalized care during a period when many healthcare facilities struggled. 

“It was a crazy time to start a business,” Leary said. “If there was going to be this crazy pandemic that happened, it worked out for us, because it was just Jordan and myself. We didn’t have a front desk. We didn’t have any other employees. We had already planned on not having a bunch of people coming through the doors for the first few months.” 

Their second location opened in Freeport in September 2023, filling a significant service gap in that rapidly growing community. 

• “Freeport is exploding,” Leary said. “We were looking at a couple different locations, and Freeport, with the expansion going on residentially as well as the lack of physical therapy services, people had to drive either to Niceville, to DeFuniak, or maybe one or two clinics down in the Santa Rosa Beach area, but nothing in Freeport itself. We thought it’d be a good place for us to be.” 

The strategy proved successful. According to Leary, the Freeport clinic grew approximately twice as quickly as their original Fort Walton Beach location did when it first opened.

“I don’t know if that’s a little bit of the COVID going on with the Fort Walton location, or Freeport was just expanding that quickly and they really needed something over there,” Leary said. 

The new Destin facility brings their services closer to existing patients who had been commuting for care. With gym flooring and turf areas already in place when they leased the space, the clinic was nearly turnkey and provides expanded capabilities beyond their existing locations. 

“We love this location and when this particular turnkey space came available we didn’t want to pass it up” Brewer said, who lives in Destin himself. “It’s just another area where we can provide our services.” 

• The clinic will operate Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Both owners bring extensive experience to their practice. Brewer, originally from central Alabama, always knew he wanted to do something in the medical field. After an elbow surgery requiring a year of physical therapy during high school, he found his calling. 

“I really enjoyed physical therapy and just continued to pursue that path,” Brewer said. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 2008 and earning his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of South Alabama in 2012, he moved to Fort Walton Beach. “I love it down here and I don’t think I ever want to move.” 

Leary, though born in Indiana, has considered the area home since age 10 when his civil service father relocated the family to Niceville through Eglin Air Force Base. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training in 2008, followed by his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Central Florida in 2012. After graduation, he and his wife returned to the Emerald Coast. 

• “We tried to find any other area in the country that would be better than home, but nothing was,” Leary said. 

The two met during their first jobs with another physical therapy company and quickly found they shared a vision for patient care. 

“We were sitting at a meeting and Matt and I said ‘we can do this, but we could do this better,” Brewer recalled of their early discussions around 2015. “It took a little bit longer than we wanted to, but we finally were able to open up something.” 

That vision focuses on what Brewer describes as a “patients first” approach that fundamentally differs from what he calls the “cattle farm” model of some physical therapy clinics. Their practice emphasizes personalized care, treatment with doctorate-level therapists, and creating a positive atmosphere.

“We have to provide a good product, and that’s the only way we’ve been successful, mostly through word of mouth,” Brewer said. “On top of that, we always keep a fun, vibrant, and energetic atmosphere. The majority of our patients become more like family.”

Leary expanded on this philosophy: “A lot of people have been to physical therapy clinics in the past who have this dungeon-like environment and feeling of, ‘I’m in pain, I don’t feel good, I’m going to this place where I think they’re going to cause pain and it’s going to be depressing.’ We try to flip the script on that.” 

This focus on patient experience isn’t just about comfort—it has clinical benefits as well. 

“There’s a lot of research showing that healing pain psychologically has tremendous results. If you’re in a good place and you’re happy where you’re at, you’re going to have less pain. You’re going to heal quicker and more effectively,” Leary said. “If we can help out with how we’re doing things, interacting with people, then that’s going to give the patients the best results.” 

Their clinics offer a comprehensive range of services that Brewer describes as “almost a one-stop shop.” These include traditional exercise-based physical therapy, balance/mobility training, joint manipulations, dry needling, kinesio taping, cupping, scraping, and various soft tissue techniques. “There are also some new innovative treatment tools we will be providing in the near future.”

They also provide specialized treatments like vestibular rehabilitation for vertigo, dizziness, and concussion management. 

• “In terms of inner ear deficits, if someone’s having dizziness, car sickness, vertigo, room-spinning type things… which can be super debilitating, all of us are able to treat that as well,” Leary explained. 

They also specialize in treating headaches, which Brewer noted often have an unrecognized source. 

“The majority of people don’t realize that most headaches actually arise from your cervical spine,” Brewer said. “People don’t realize that. They just keep popping unnecessary medication, when 90% of the time if we work on their spine, muscle and tissue imbalances, and diet, their headaches could be eliminated. We’re trying to reverse the typical healthcare model here in the states and get people better in a more holistic yet evidence-based manner.”

The facilities are equipped with full gyms, including squat racks, dumbbells, treadmills, bikes, and weight machines to accommodate patients of all ages and injury levels. 

A distinctive aspect of their practice is their exclusive use of doctorate-level physical therapists, ensuring patients see the same clinician from evaluation through their entire treatment. 

• “The person who’s evaluating you is the person who’s going to be treating you as well,” Leary explained. “If you go to see Jordan for your eval, you’re going to see Jordan every day unless there is some unexpected scheduling conflict. Not a different person each time.”

The practice has grown to 11 physical therapists and six front desk staff members across their locations, all without significant direct marketing. Instead, they’ve built their business largely through word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied patients and physicians. 

With the Destin location staffed and nearly ready for patients, the co-owners are planning for future growth but with caution. 

“Controlled growth,” Leary emphasized. “There’s a way to grow that’s not a good way to grow, and there’s a way to grow that we feel we’re succeeding in. One of the things that concerns us that we want to make sure does not happen is you grow too big, too fast.” 

• Brewer added: “We do want to have more locations in the near future, as long as we’re fully staffed. Growing too fast can be a very unpleasant experience for staff and we want to avoid that.”

For most insurance plans, patients can schedule directly without a doctor’s referral, though some insurances do require referrals. In those cases, the clinic staff handles obtaining the necessary paperwork. 

“Nine times out of 10 you can walk in the door and we can get you scheduled,” Leary said.

Patients interested in scheduling appointments at the new Destin location can call the Fort Walton Beach office at 850-374-8158.