Rachel is a licensed Physical Therapist, she received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Duke University-School of Medicine, following a Rehabilitation Science B.S. at University of Pittsburgh and certification in Patho-kinesiology. Rachel has rehabilitation experience working at UPMC Mercy (Pittsburgh, PA)—cross-trained in ICU and acute neuro-trauma units including Stroke, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury. Her clinical internships specialized in infant-handling, torticollis, motor milestone delays, a variety of neuromuscular conditions within a diverse pediatric and adolescent population, as well as balance and movement disorders within neuro-trauma and geriatric populations. She has experience in a variety of settings, including hospitals, inpatient and outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home care, and specialty clinics for spasticity, orthopedics, muscular dystrophy, and down syndrome. Rachel is able to expand her creativity when working with infants and kiddos, use her knowledge of movement patterns, facilitate the resilience of the human body, and continue to be inspired by each patient and each family. In her free time, she enjoys rowing, yoga, travel, running with her adorable rescue puppy, and spending time with family and friends. 

James “Andrew” Foster, II has been with Care First since May 2019. He graduated from NC State University undergrad with a Bachelor’s of Science in Veterinary Bioscience and minors in Sports Science and Business Management. He received his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2016. James has training in dry needling, and kineso taping. Two years prior he worked at an Outpatient Orthopedic clinic, and went on a service learning trip to Guatemala to an under-served and impoverished hospital helping pediatrics.

Coming soon.

Maryellen Halloran is a physical therapist who originally hails from Miami but has made her home in North Carolina since 2017. Maryellen attended physical therapy as a teenager and the care and compassion shown by her physical therapist led to her interest in wanting to pursue it as a career. Maryellen went to undergrad at the University of North Carolina and studied to be an athletic trainer. Following graduation, Maryellen worked as a head athletic trainer in Miami, FL. Maryellen graduated from the University of Miami Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2013 and has been working as an orthopedic physical therapist since that time. Maryllen has worked primarily in orthopedics but throughout her career has also treated neurological disorders, vestibular disorders, and general deconditioning. In 2020, Maryellen went on to further her orthopedic background by becoming a Orthopedic Certified Specialist which is a certification held by only 6% of physical therapists nationwide. Maryellen speaks fluent Spanish and is glad to offer services to this population in their preferred language. When not working, Maryellen enjoys spending time with family and friends. Maryellen is also a huge sports fan (Go Tar Heels) and enjoys both watching and attending sporting events. 1. Certified Athletic Trainer 2. Orthopedic Certified Specialist 3. Fluent in Spanish 

Rachel has a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and is a Certified Nursing Assistant. She believes that being engaged, kind, and open with patients makes all the difference in patient success. Rachel has witnessed firsthand how valuable therapy can be for many patients and wants to continue to help patients to increase their quality of life. She loves to hike and be outdoors as well as spend time with her family.

Donna, M.A., CCC-SLP, received her B.A. and M.A. from Marshall University, Huntington, WV. Her experience in the field of communication disorders spans over 32 years in early intervention, preschool and school settings. She has been an active member of the North Carolina Speech, Hearing & Language Association for over a decade. She is also active the American Speech Language Hearing Association, which she is NC Stat liaison for Division 14, school-based issues. Donna’s areas of expertise encompasses emergent literacy, phonological awareness, spoken language disorders, autism, apraxia (motor planning), Assessment/Management of children with craniofacial impairments (toddler, preschool, school age), augmentative communication, fluency, intellectual disabilities, articulation and language delays and disorders. Donna has always loved working with children and their families, watching them develop their communication potential. Parents always receive support from Donna regarding techniques, strategies they can implement in the home setting to increase their child’s potential. She has served over hundreds of children in a variety of settings. Donna always demonstrates passion of care for all children and makes her sessions educational and fun. She supports and implements a transdisciplinary team approach for each child. 

Marian has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech-Language Pathology and a Master of Speech Pathology. She has worked extensively with the Autistic community. Marian believes that a warm personality creates a trusting environment for her patients while also making therapy enjoyable. She grew up in a community that did not have easy access to therapy services which encouraged her to go into this field. In her spare time, Marian enjoys hiking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. 

Kayla has experience in evaluating and training a variety of pediatric speech and language deficits such as phonological and articulation delays, expressive and receptive language delays, fluency, autism spectrum disorder, cognitive delays, and other nonverbal communicators. She enjoys the wide span of the pediatric population, especially early intervention and preschool-aged children. Kayla believes in creating a plan of care that will assist both parents and children in communicating successfully in the child’s natural environment. Outside of being a therapist, you can often catch Kayla at the local trails walking her fur baby Milo or trying out a new restaurant. 

Katie has a Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish. She loves seeing a child make progress toward their goals & ultimately having the ability to see the positive impact that speech therapy can have on a child and their family. 

Kaitlyn received her Associate’s degree in Occupational Therapy from Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC and is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. She focuses on serving patients who have had strokes, autism, ADD/ADHD, developmental delays, down syndrome, Alzheimer’s, hand injuries, sensory processing disorders, spinal cord injury, TBI, general life aging complications like incontinence, extremity weakness and more. Kaitlyn is a vibrant, kind, energetic therapist who works hard to build strong relationships with patients to ensure that she can help the reach their goals by using different functional strategies. One of her greatest lessons in this work is that the affects of sensory disorders can be supported by having proper recognition, regulation, and coping strategies so a child’s knowledge, skills, and abilities can shing through. She loves bonding with her patients, ensuring that they accomplish their goals over time so they can experience joy and happiness daily. In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys the outdoors, running, dancing, traveling and spending quality time with friends. Kaitlyn is originally from Maine and misses her parents dearly as they are her dearest friends. Rocky, her cat, keeps her company who loves to sleep and cuddle mostly. Kaitlyn has been busy meeting famous stars like Brittany Spears, Luke Bryan and Vanna White. More importantly, she wants to meet Betty White and Jennifer Aniston because both women exude so much knowledge, wisdom, grace, and kindness while also being very talented. 

Sefir is originally from Berlin, Germany, but has been a North Carolina native for over 20 years. His background includes a Bachelors’s in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Medicine. Sefir starts from a foundational approach with each and every patient to truly understand the nature of each individual’s unique perspective towards their therapeutic journey. He comes from a strong Orthopedic background working with upper extremity hand surgeons, as well as working with younger children. His hobbies include playing basketball, soccer and beach volleyball, as well as strength training 6 days out of the week.

Annie attended William and Mary for her undergraduate degree and Tufts University for an MS in occupational therapy. She is an empathetic and patient person which allows her to be personally invested in the well-being of patients. Annie believes that mind and body are inseparable and that healing has to be approached holistically.

Donna has an M.S. in Occupational Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work in Occupational Therapy has taught her that a supportive environment is the most effective way to guarantee a positive outcome for communities and individuals. 

Coming Soon. 

Coming Soon.