Partners in life as well as in business, Sara-Gabrièle Savard and Frédéric Beaulieu co-own Reabilio, a clinic located in Victoriaville offering physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and kinesiology services.
Like Sara-Gabrièle, Frédéric also holds an occupational therapy degree, but with an entrepreneurial specialization added during his university studies. It was no surprise, then, that after a short career in the private sector and as a self-employed practitioner, he seized the opportunity to start his own clinic. That opportunity came through Sara-Gabrièle: while she was working in a private clinic, she introduced Frédéric to her then-employer, Marc-André Trahan.
Following their meeting, the two men became partners and in November 2017 founded a new clinic initially known as Performance Santé et Réadaptation, in which they were both co-owners. Frédéric took on the managerial role, and before long, each partner’s plans led to a major restructuring of the company: Marc-André sold his shares to the couple, making Sara-Gabrièle a buyer in June 2022. At that point, the SADC Arthabaska-Érable provided the company with both support and funding for entrepreneurs. Frédéric and Sara-Gabrièle then reassessed the ownership structure and adopted a new brand image reflecting their values.
Frédéric, now serving as head of the Unité de réadaptation fonctionnelle intensive (Intensive Functional Rehabilitation Unit) at the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec, delegated management duties at Reabilio to Sara-Gabrièle. Although she had initially planned to remain a silent partner, she is well equipped for her leadership position. Having been around entrepreneurship her whole life—first through her father, then with her spouse— she decided to join Desjardins’ Essence-repreneur(e)s program, which had a significant impact on her journey. Six months after the purchase, she began taking a more active role in decision-making and management, tasks she shares with their director, Patricia Morissette. Nonetheless, she hasn’t abandoned her original role: between all her administrative mandates, Sara-Gabrièle still practices occupational therapy at the clinic, seeing clients for 35 hours a week. As Frédéric points out, “the manager’s hat is often worn in the evenings and on weekends.”
In their field, the owners’ biggest challenge is clearly the profitability of their services, given that most of their primary clients are government bodies who cover rehabilitation costs for injured people. These payments might take up to three months from the first session, while clinic staff need to be paid on schedule. Despite that, Sara-Gabrièle and Frédéric continue to offer competitive salaries, an approach they’re proud of, especially with such a close-knit team. The two owners always make time for mutual support and discussion, and they operate with transparency by presenting their action plan quarterly to employees, who then vote on the reward activities they’ll enjoy once goals are met. “We take good care of our employees so that they can take good care of our clients,” they explain.
In the near future, Frédéric and Sara-Gabrièle hope to launch nature-based health services aimed at encouraging people to look after themselves physically and mentally. They’ve also been increasingly focused on prevention and education by giving presentations that equip employers to foster workplace safety.
This is the distinction that makes Reabilio such a unique clinic: their philosophy revolves around guiding each individual before, during, and after their care. They make it a priority to value each person’s quality of life and connection with their practitioners, offering support that goes beyond injury treatment: “We aim to provide a social safety net and psychological support for individuals who are off work. We become friends with them and invest our entire selves in helping them.” For them, human well-being is paramount—not just for their clients but for their staff as well. After all, making people’s lives better is what drives both Sara-Gabrièle and Frédéric in their careers; it’s the heart and soul of Reabilio.
reabilio.com
reabilio.com
