Locally based venture capital firms Cardinal Equity Partners and Centerfield Capital Partners have joined with Chicago-based bank Harris NA to recapitalize locally based Advanced Physical Therapy LLC, the state’s largest independent physical therapy provider.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Cardinal, which has $50 million under management, typically invests $2 million to $7 million in companies with annual sales of $5 million to $50 million. With $160 million under management, Centerfield typically invests $2 million to $8 million in firms with $15 million to $75 million in annual revenue.

Advanced Physical Therapy operates in 17 locations, focusing on Worker’s Compensation cases and workplace injury-prevention consulting services. It was founded in 1985 by JoAnne Bozza-Jonathan, who remains CEO after the deal.

On its Web site, Cardinal describes a recapitalization as a deal allowing owners of a closely held business to “take some ‘chips off the table’ while continuing to retain a significant level of ownership and management responsibility.” According to Cardinal, divesting partial ownership allows the investors to help grow companies by offering founders “a second bite of the apple.”

On her company’s Web site, Jonathan describes the challenge of independently operating a health care business in today’s changing medical environment:

“Over the past five years, many privately owned medical practices have sold to large corporations or hospitals, but I am proud to say I have resisted the ‘sellout’ trend,” she wrote. “I feel that today, maybe more than ever, it is critical to deliver care in a manner that leaves patients feeling like a person, not a number.”