Rehabilitative growth: Demand for phyical therapy growing in Southeast Missouri

This story is from the February 2011 issue of Rust Communications' regional business magazine, Business Today. The magazine publishes Monday.

Employment in physical therapy is expected to grow 30 percent from 2008 to 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and expansion projects in Southeast Missouri may already be a reflection of the trend.

"Everybody will need therapy at some point in their life, so it's definitely a growing field. The need is always increasing," says Summer Riney, vice president of public relations and marketing for Premier Rehab of Cape Girardeau. The 5-year-old business opened a second location at the Main Street Station building in Jackson on Jan. 3, providing the city's first site for aquatic therapy. According to Riney, Premier opened the Jackson location to better meet the needs of patients north of Cape Girardeau who require three or more therapy sessions per week. The Jackson clinic provides the same services as the Cape Girardeau location, says Riney, and physical therapist Jeff Thieret serves as director of the Jackson clinic.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics cited the growing elderly population and better access to therapy services as the main reasons for growth in this health care field. Kelly Sander, physical therapist and director of rehabilitation at the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau, adds that patients are spending less time in hospitals, opting instead for short, rehab-focused stints in nursing facilities. In response, the Lutheran Home has opened a new, larger therapy department featuring a fully functioning kitchen, bathroom and bedroom where patients practice everyday activities until they are ready to go home.

"We saw more patients coming in for shorter stays. They were leaving the hospital sooner and they were not quite ready to go home, but they wanted to go home as quickly as possible," Sander explains. "We set up an area that had all three therapies available in one space, and we tried to make it as homelike and functional as possible."

While the Lutheran Home put the finishing touches on its therapy department in late fall, Chateau Girardeau is just beginning a major addition to its health center The Gardens, as well as a renovation of its existing facility. The addition will house Chateau's "Rehab Therapy-to-Home" program, in which patients stay at the Chateau for 30 to 45 days receiving therapy after surgery. The expansion will add 15 beds to the facility, increasing total capacity to 75. Existing rooms will be gutted and renovated with new flooring, paint, furniture and curtains.

Therapy is also growing at the Kenny Rogers Children's Center of Sikeston, Mo., which provides therapy for children with disabilities. The center -- with about 100 children on its waiting list and loads of equipment in storage -- is creating more space with a 7,000-square-foot expansion, scheduled for completion by the end of March. The addition will house an all-accessible playground, more treatment and storage space, a motion analysis lab, sensory motor learning center, conference room and restrooms. Michelle Fayette, executive director of the center, says that when all is complete, there will be space to up the number of therapists from 13 to 20, enabling the center to treat more children with disabilities. The expansion follows several months of renovations at the center, which included a new administrative and reception area, a remodeled kitchen, new flooring, office space for up to 20 therapists, and 14 additional parking spaces.