Meet our team of Physiotherapists and Admin staff at Physio Direct. Physio Direct has a wide range of experience and expertise with physios from NZ, Australia, South Africa, the United States and the UK.
Amy Cram – Director
Amy graduated from AUT in Auckland in 2005 and has worked as a physiotherapist in a variety of hospital and private practice settings throughout Australia and the UK, and has travelled to over 70 countries.
Amy returned home after travelling and has dedicated the past few years setting up a physiotherapy service to smaller rural areas that would otherwise not have this service available. Physio Direct now has clinics in over 12 rural locations in both the North and South Island.
She is dedicated to bringing under serviced communities the services they are entitled to.
Amy’s passion is to help underdeveloped areas and is looking forward to further expanding Physio Direct regionally and internationally to help many more communities who have limited services.
Marelize Ferreira – Physiotherapy Manager
Marelize recently joined the Physio Direct team from South Africa with her husband and two young girls.
She has worked in various sports practices, orthopedic and musculoskeletal clinics through her career. For the last nine years she has owned a private physiotherapy practice in Pretoria that focused on a multi-disciplinary team approach for patients with chronic pain, arthritis, musculoskeletal injuries, work related injuries and sports injuries.
She has a passion for helping people in pain and enjoys educating patients about their amazing bodies and facilitating the healing process. Hands-on treatment and exercise form the cornerstone of her treatment approach.
When not at work she enjoys running and spending time out-doors with her family.
Alison Huntley – Administrator Napier
Alison has many years of medical reception experience and loves seeing people improve with their physio treatment. She loves living in the Hawke’s Bay with her family; spending time with family and friends, renovating their property and taking their adopted retired greyhound for walks.
Leigh Burling – Accounts Administrator
Leigh joined the Physio Direct team in April 2018 in an administrative capacity, moving into an Accounts role in early 2019. Originally from Ngongotaha, Leigh now lives in rural Tauranga, fitting work around her young family.
Her background includes administration across a variety of sectors, early childhood education and science.
Outside of work, Leigh enjoys exploring the beautiful beaches and parks around the Bay of Plenty with her family.
Sophie Dibley – CFO
Not sure how I ended up being Chief Finance Officer for Physio Direct Ltd as I’m an outdoor person at heart. I was brought up on a farm and I’m still farming now – not sure if I work for Physio Direct in my spare time or work on the farm in my spare time??
Anyway, apart from doing finances for Physio Direct, and working on our drystock farm, we have a 500 cow dairy farm with a 50/50 sharemilker managing that one.
Sophie really enjoys walking/hiking – recently completing the Queen Charlotte track and this year (2020) and will also be walking her 30th half marathon in 2021.
Sophie has 5 grandchildren who she loves spending time with AND if she has any spare time she also likes quilting and sewing.
Sheryl Rumbal – Administration Manager
Over the past 20 years, Sheryl has worked in General Practice and then moving into Occupational medicine where she managed a small team and conducted audio screening and drug testing.
Sheryl enjoys working in the health sector and understands how important physiotherapy is in the rehabilitation process, so people can move forward pain-free into their day.
In her personal time, she enjoys walking, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, gaining her 200 hour Yoga teaching training in 2020, along with reading and baking and spending time with her family.
Jacquie Kieck – Physiotherapist
Jacquie comes from the coastal town of Port Alfred, Eastern Cape South Africa.
Jacquie’s clinical interest lies in OMT (Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy), completing the OMT course in 2009. As well as pain management, obtaining her Certificate in Pain Management in 2016.
As a person who loves to be organized, Jacquie has a keen interest in the management and administrative aspects of physiotherapy practice. This was reflected when her practice became the first physiotherapy practice, in South Africa, to gain accreditation status with the South African Society of Physiotherapy.
Outside of physiotherapy Jacquie is married with two boys. She loves being and mom and the fun that comes with that!
Elizabeth Ratcliffe – Physiotherapist
Elizabeth is an experienced physiotherapist with a special interest in musculoskeletal and orthopaedic injuries. She also has a special interest in chronic pain. She is passionate about physiotherapy ran her own private practice and Pilates studio in South Africa for 14 years. She enjoys group exercise classes and intergrating patients back into society.
Elizabeth enjoys Pilates, tennis and walking.
Matthew Ratcliffe – Physiotherapist
Matthew is an experienced physiotherapist with a passion for sports injuries, orthopaedics and chronic pain. He enjoys teaching back care classes and educating his patients about their conditions. Matthew has a passion for working with sports teams and challenging himself with new technologies. In his spare time you can find Matthew mountain biking, hiking, fishing, hunting or out in the general outdoors.
Andrea Collins – Physiotherapist
I have a special interest in women’s health, however, I do enjoy managing a combination of conditions to keep all areas of my interests active. I am a competent, caring and passionate outpatient-based physiotherapist with 13 years of experience in the field. With a strong background in OMT, pelvic health and chronic pain, I am able to communicate, assess and manage my patients holistically.
In my free time, my family and I enjoy hiking, camping and exploring. When I am able to, I love roller skating along the beach and have every aspiration of connecting with a Roller Derby team in New Zealand.
Joh-Ann Gouws – Physiotherapist
I am Joh-Ann, the new physio in the Ngongotaha clinic. I have a passion for pelvic health and enjoy seeing people of all ages with pelvic pain, bladder and bowel problems as well as adults with sexual dysfunction. I also really enjoy helping people with general aches and pains to get back to doing the activities they love without pain.
I recently moved from South Africa and love the outdoors! I can’t wait to explore all the beautiful surrounding areas here. In my free time I enjoy hiking, trail running and anything crafty.
Bridget Lodge – Physiotherapist
Bridget graduated from the University of Otago in 2007 with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. Bridget values a holistic approach to physiotherapy and creating personalised rehab plans with her clients. Outside of work Bridget leads an active lifestyle and thrives on supporting people to get back to doing what they love too.
Charlie Ellis – Physiotherapist
Charlie qualified in York in the UK and worked in private practice, with the Ministry of Defence and in the NHS for 10 years before moving to New Zealand. This has given her a varied experience in physiotherapy treatment from acute injuries to persistent pain, and she enjoys working with patients to get them back to what they love, whatever the injury or their journey so far. In her spare time she is keen on tramping and exploring her adopted ‘backyard’.
Naomi Potgieter – Accounts Manager
Naomi joined Physio Direct in May 2022 as Financial Manager.
She and her family moved from South-Africa to NZ in 2020 and they are excited to explore the whole country and make this their new home. Finances is what she is good at, but she prefers to start her day by being active in the fresh outdoors. Her hobbies will send her to the mountains either by mountain bike or trail running or hiking with the family. Mountain bike stage races is what excites her most.
Leanne Rankin – Administrator
Leanne has spent the past 6 years working within primary schools as a Sports Coordinator and Learning Assistant. This is where she grew her passion for helping others and working together to create positive outcomes. She is now able to transfer those skills as an administrator within Physio Direct where she continues her passion for helping others.
Outside of work she is kept busy with either organising, supporting, or participating in various sports. With her two son’s and husband all swimmers, she is very involved with our local swim club, Swim Rotorua, from administration to event organisation to drying out the many many wet towels! Aside from sports, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and beating them at the daily wordle 😉
Lane Malan – Physiotherapist
Lane is originally from South Africa where she worked in a Hospital and out-patient setting. Here she developed a great love for cardiology and rehabilitation of patients who had open-heart surgery, young and old. She also realized that she has a big passion to help people living with pelvic health conditions. Good relationships with her patients are of great importance to her and she sees it as an integral part in good treatment outcomes.
Outside of work Lane is adventurous and likes outdoor activities like mountain biking, hiking and swimming.
Alistair McCrann – Physiotherapist
Alistair is a physiotherapist from the United States of America who brings the knowledge and experience from nearly two decades and several countries of work to address patient needs. He is our only locum physiotherapist within the company and enjoys traveling to different countries and providing physiotherapy care while enjoying beautiful scenery and different cuisines.
His varied experiences and wide breath of knowledge provide insight into every aspect of a patient’s care and wellness and will spend the time ensuring that each patient has all of their questions addressed and is empowered to participate in the recovery process to maximize their potential and benefits from physiotherapy services.
Outside of work he enjoys golfing, nature photography, exercising and peaceful walks.
Carmin Kannemeyer – Physiotherapist
Carmin Kannemeyer is a passionate physiotherapist from South Africa. She thrives off of helping others and works fiercely to assist people as best as she can in a holistic manner. She has worked in public and private settings and has a special interest in neurological conditions. With experience in neuromusculoskeletal, orthopedic and sports injuries, Carmin is ready to tackle any problem that herself and her patients may come across. As much as her patients can learn from her, she tries to learn as much as she can from her patients with regards to culture and general life experiences.
When she isn’t assisting others, she enjoys almost anything outdoors, meditation, movie marathons (such as Lord of the Rings) and reading.