BrightStart Pediatrics helps medically fragile children thrive in a caring, nurturing environment.

When Linda Brown first opened the doors to BrightStart Pediatrics in 2003, she knew she could make a lasting impact in the Central Florida community by helping families with medically fragile children find the love, care and support they desperately need.

More than two decades later, she continues to be inspired by the difference BrightStart has made in so many lives—including her own.

“I’m very fortunate that after being [around these kids], there is absolutely no way to not be constantly reminded of how amazing their young spirits are and how they will overcome anything if you help them,” Brown says.

It should come as no surprise then that the company tagline of “Nursing, Therapy and Love” is something Brown feels especially connected to.

“I feel very strongly that what we do has got to be more than just nursing and therapy. If you don’t have a heart for these kids and a heart for what you do, if it doesn’t touch your soul, then you’re not going to last in our program, because the reality of it is what we give is so much more than a nursing technique or a therapy session,” she says. “We become part of their families. These children spend all day with us, we are where they often take their first steps or utter their first words; and if you don’t love them like family, that’s going to come through in the service you provide.

“That is the extra part that I think makes BrightStart so special. We are a family amongst ourselves and with our kids. It’s something that I believe is as essential as the nursing and therapy, because without it, you’re just a business.”

BrightStart Pediatrics is a Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care (PPEC) nursing and therapy center that specializes in skilled nursing as well as occupational, physical and speech therapy. It serves children of all ages, but focuses on children from birth through age 6. They work with kids who are dealing with diagnoses such as premature birth, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, metabolic disorders, seizure disorders, brain disorders and chronic lung issues.

After first learning of the PPEC model while working as an occupational therapist at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Brown became intrigued by its capabilities. Soon after, she was recruited to a national company to become its regional director and helped open up PPEC centers across Florida. But after learning more about PPEC and surmising there was a more effective approach to be taken, Brown took the leap and opened up BrightStart.

“I went from first learning about [the PPEC model], to being impressed by it. But then seeing how it works from the inside, I thought we can do so much more,” she recalls.

To that end, BrightStart offers not only nursing and therapy needs, but also numerous developmental activities that help children progress during their formative years.

Another thing that makes BrightStart’s PPEC approach so effective is that therapies are given on a consistent and integrated basis. For instance, if a child was to receive care in the home, they might have a nurse and a therapist come to the residence, but the integration between the two professionals is much harder to achieve because they are likely not in the home at the same time. At BrightStart, children are exposed to the same nurses and therapists daily.

“They are all our employees, we don’t contract anything out,” says Brown. “We have the continuity that allows the child to start to feel comfortable. The children have access to better equipment in the center and they are in an environment with other children who are developing similarly. So they are motivated by seeing the child next to them crawl or eat by mouth.

“All of those things create a synergy, which results in this particular delivery model being very effective and making great progress if it’s done well. Not every PPEC has their own therapists: Sometimes they contract that out and it’s not the same. How we do it takes advantage of all that synergy to really make an amazing impact with our kids.”

Now with three locations in Orlando, Sanford and Winter Garden, BrightStart has expanded to reach even more families across the region while Brown and her longtime staff remain dedicated to providing “nursing, therapy and love” and advocating for children and their loved ones every step of the way.

“The families we care for have an inordinate amount of stress. They’re dealing with a child with special medical and developmental needs, and sometimes we need to have hard conversations with them. That may mean we have to challenge a parent about not staying on a medication regime or feeding schedule, or call a doctor again about a symptom that we are concerned about; it takes a team and we have to be active members of that team in order for us to give our best to that child,” Brown says.

Not many people have been in the industry as long as Brown has, and her experience, personal touch and collaborative approach have helped shape the level of care and connection BrightStart has with their families. While others are now entering into the PPEC industry, Brown cautions families to be more discerning in their process of choosing services to ensure they are educated about their options and not overwhelmed by the system. It’s just another reason why BrightStart stands out as a leader in the field.

“We are focused on the child and we know we are doing everything we can to give them the best start in life—their ‘bright start’—and give them the best opportunity to make the most with what God gave them,” Brown says. “We can be a great resource for families, and they should know that does exist and that they deserve it.”

BrightStart Pediatrics
Orlando: (407) 857-1212
Sanford: (407) 321-9570
Winter Garden: (407) 545-2773
BrightStartPeds.com