Pharmacy News EU

Feb. 9A recent move has allowed a longtime Pauls Valley clinic to really spread its wings with much more to offer the community.
Making the move was the Outpatient Physical Therapy and Wellness Clinic of Pauls Valley General Hospital.
Housed in the local hospital for some time, the clinic is now located at 421 West Paul, familiar to many as the former site of the Church of Christ.
A recent open house shows the move essentially gives the clinic about three times the space it had before, which director Scott Smith says has already allowed for an expansion in its physical, occupational and speech therapy services.
"We are the outpatient physical therapy and wellness clinic for the hospital. We have been located in the hospital since the hospital has been there," Smith said.
"We needed to expand though. We’re almost three times larger now than what we had at the hospital," he said.
"The extra space has allowed us to develop new programs because we don’t have the space limitations we had before."
Space for the clinic at the hospital had become a tough thing to find, thanks largely to the addition of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the Radiology Department.
The recent move now opens up all kinds of possibilities.
An example comes with a brand new fall and balance conditioning program now offered at the clinic.
"It’s also allowed us to develop our wellness clinic," Smith said.
Included in that is a diabetic education program, smoking cessation classes and plans are in the works to offer a weight loss program.
"We will also expand our speech therapy into more pediatrics."
The additional space also allows for more specialized equipment and other new programs.
"The new space really allows us to emphasize our sports medicine and sports rehab. We can double or triple our cardiovascular strengthening equipment," he said.
Another plus comes with a staff on site instead of the past need to bring them in only when needed.
"We have a full staff for a community this size. In the past we would bring in the staff when they were needed. Now we have them right here."
The staff includes three masters level physical therapists, two physical therapy assistants, a registered nurse directing the wellness clinic, one occupational therapist and two speech therapists.
Smith said another benefit has come with the new site of the clinic, which he believes has opened some eyes that it even exists.
"This location has worked very well for us. The location has allowed for more people to know the hospital has this type of clinic on an outpatient basis," he said.
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Copyright (c) 2010, Pauls Valley Daily Democrat, Okla.
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