Meet Derek Hendershot, PT, DPT
Founder of Franklin Physical Therapy and a lifelong Sussex County resident.
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Education & Background
Derek earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Misericordia University and is licensed to practice in New Jersey. Before starting his own practice, he worked for hospitals, outpatient clinics, and homecare agencies across Northern New Jersey, treating patients in acute care, inpatient rehab, outpatient, and home health settings. That range of experience shaped how he thinks about physical therapy and what kind of clinician he wanted to be.
He holds advanced certification in dry needling, which he uses alongside manual therapy and exercise-based treatment as part of his work at Franklin Physical Therapy.
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How Franklin Physical Therapy Started
After years working in hospitals and homecare across Northern NJ, Derek noticed a gap in Sussex County. Patients who needed outpatient-level physical therapy, especially older adults and those recovering from surgery, often had no practical way to get to a clinic. Home health agencies covered some of the need, but true outpatient-quality care delivered at home was rare.
He founded North Jersey Mobile Physical Therapy to address that directly. He has run it for the past three years on a simple model: bring high-quality outpatient physical therapy to patients at home, treat them well, and let word spread. He built a full caseload that way, without any traditional marketing. Every new patient came through word of mouth.
Franklin Physical Therapy is the next chapter: a brick-and-mortar clinic in the community he grew up in, built on the same standard of care.
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How Derek Approaches Physical Therapy
Derek’s approach starts with one principle: know the patient before you treat them. That means a thorough evaluation, understanding what’s really going on and not just what brought them in, and building a plan around that person’s goals and daily life.
At Franklin Physical Therapy, care stays one-on-one, and your plan of care stays consistent as you progress. Derek sets the standard for how the practice treats, and as the team grows, every clinician works to that same standard. He believes a therapist who sees a patient week after week notices changes, adjusts the plan, and picks up on things someone glancing at a chart would miss.
He treats a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions, with particular experience in post-surgical recovery, TMJ disorders, scar management, and dry needling.
Derek grew up in Sussex County and has spent his career serving patients here. Through years of home visits, he saw firsthand that patients in Franklin, Hamburg, Newton, and surrounding towns lacked easy access to quality outpatient physical therapy.
Opening a clinic in Franklin is the direct response to that. The goal is to be the practice this community can count on: in-network with most major insurance, open to patients of all ages, and the kind of place people recommend to their neighbors the same way they always have. Through results.
Ready to Book?
Franklin Physical Therapy is accepting new patients. A consultation is the first step.