CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- An updated and expanded outpatient rehabilitation clinic will allow Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation to "easily triple" the volume of patients seen in Cleveland, Tenn., the rehab hospital's director of therapy services said.
"We ran into issues related to space in the old clinic, which is about 1,400 square feet," Tod Cain said. "As the volume of our patients grew, we actually had to start creating a waiting list."
The 3,000-square-foot replacement clinic at 3830 Keith St. will hold its grand opening Wednesday, Mr. Cain said.
The Cleveland location began three years ago as a partnership between Siskin and Erlanger hospital. Siskin took over the staffing for the clinic about a year ago, officials said.
The growth has been rapid: Just last year, one part-time therapist could handle all the clinic's patients, Mr. Cain said. Now there are two full-time and three part-time therapists, he said, plus a list of clients on a waiting list.
The new clinic provides room to treat the influx of patients and give the hospital space to add the latest therapy equipment, he said.
SISKIN IN CLEVELAND
Siskin's expanded outpatient therapy services clinic at 3830 Keith St. will offer:
* Physical therapy
* Occupational and speech therapy
* Psychology
* Massage therapy
* Community re-entry program
* Vocational services such as lift tests and functional capacity evaluations
FREE SCREENINGS
Free screenings will be offered at the Keith Street clinic as part of a grand opening celebration. Screenings for balance, arm and hand and vision problems will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on July 14. Screenings for back and fitness problems, as well as speech consultation and hearing screenings, will be offered from noon to 3 p.m. on July 16.
The center will offer physical, occupational and speech therapy. It is adding a vocational services program with ergonomic assessments and lift tests, used to determine whether a patient is ready to go back to work, Mr. Cain said.
A community re-entry program for patients with brain injuries is new to the Cleveland site, said Dr. David Bowers, Siskin medical director.
Brain injury patients "have to relearn how to live again, how to look up something simple in the phone book, how to plan what they're going to get on the shopping list, how are you going to do banking, how do you write checks again," he said.
Patients also are eager for the expansion.
Jeffrey Garrett survived a five-story fall while rock climbing in February in Colorado. He broke more than 50 bones in the accident and has relied on rehabilitation at Siskin's Cleveland outpatient clinic to improve his ability to walk.
The 21-year-old Air Force Academy student said he now walks with a cane and can do 40 minutes on a stationary bike. He's looking forward to working on the new equipment that Siskin will get for its updated center.
"I'd really like to be involved in doing everything that I physically can and with this new site, I've been told it's supposed to be a lot larger and hopefully have a few more things to help me physically," he said. "And it's still close to home, so it's not like I have to drive an hour to it."
Convenience for Cleveland residents is a main reason for the clinic, Dr. Bowers said.
"We had so many patients come down (to Chattanooga) here from Cleveland for ... rehabilitation," he said. "To drive all the way down to Chattanooga might take them an hour in rush hour."
