Pictured with Sims (middle) at the awards event are Gerald Etheredge (left), hospital director of therapy operations, and Patrick Ameling (right), hospital physical therapy lead.
Aug. 12, 2025 — Talk Business and Politics named Keller Sims to its Forty Under 40 Class of 2025. Sims, a physical therapist at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital in Fayetteville, was recognized as an emerging leader in the workplace and community.
“Receiving this award was a huge honor for me,” said Sims. “It is very rewarding to be recognized for my contributions as both a physical therapist and for my work with the University of Arkansas hockey program. It’s certainly added motivation to continue working hard to reach both my career and personal goals.”
Sims earned his doctorate in physical therapy in 2019 from the University of Arkansas. He joined the Encompass Health Fayetteville team in 2020.
“Encompass Health has helped me grow as a clinician by providing me with opportunities to learn from those around me,” said Sims. “We have a great team here in Fayetteville that I have been able to learn from and lean on, especially when I was a new graduate therapist.”
Sims serves on multiple disease-specific care committees helping advance the therapy services Encompass Health Fayetteville provides. He says the ability to build relationships with patients is what keeps him in inpatient rehabilitation.
“The daily interactions and the progress I help my patients achieve are big factors for me choosing inpatient rehabilitation,” said Sims. “Inpatient rehabilitation offers me the opportunity to work with my patients daily to achieve their goals and hopefully be able to return home independently by the end of their stay.”
Read more about why Sims chose the physical therapy field and the Forty Under 40 award.