Community Hospital opens new pediatric therapy clinic

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Community Hospital is celebrating the opening of a new clinic that officials said is geared specifically toward children.

According to Community Hospital, the new Grand Valley Pediatric Therapy clinic provides multiple therapy services in a safe, welcoming environment for children. The new clinic provides more space as well as resources for treatment than what was previously available.

“Our pediatric therapists truly love helping children and young adults, offering treatment for a wide variety of diagnoses and special needs,” said Kyle Gardner, Director of Community Hospital Therapy Works. “Together, we are committed to providing comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care in an environment where children can achieve their goals and reach their full potential.”

Children will have access to speech, occupational, and physical therapy all within one facility. Michelle Ferrell, the lead pediatric speech language pathologist said the new clinic is much bigger and comes at time when the need for pediatric therapy grows.

“Within three to four months of joining the team, my caseload was completely full,” said Ferrell. “I had a waiting list started, and as the months went by, my waiting list continued to grow. I immediately recognized that we really had a significant need for more pediatric services in the area.”

Ferrell said the new clinic is the first of its kind in the Western Slope. She said everything was designed with children in mind. Everything from the décor on the walls to the activities even the furniture was specifically designed for children who come in.

“Our environment is very fun, it’s very inviting,” said Ferrell. “So the kids enjoy coming. When they see what we’re offering them, they engage better because they find it a more fun, more inviting environment.”

According to Community Hospital, therapists specialize treatment to each individual child’s needs. Ferrell said that treatment can be done much more easily now, thanks to the new clinic.

A new part of the clinic is what Ferrell called a large gym area where children can take a break from therapy.

“We didn’t have that before, we only had treatment rooms available,” said Ferrell. “We were kind of confined to a smaller area. Whereas now we can go into a treatment room, we can take a break, go out into the gym, do some jumping, do some swinging, and then reengage in a more therapeutic activity if needed.”

Ferrell said when she and other therapists recognized that they would need a bigger clinic, the hospital administrators were onboard and her patients were excited.

“It was a team huge team effort with everyone from the hospital,” said Ferrell. “We did a little bit of construction to accommodate the needs for smaller children. Added a lot of very fun and specific types of equipment that will be needed for the type of treatments that we do.”

The new Grand Valley Pediatric Clinic is located at 715 Horizon Dr.

The project was funded completely by Community Hospital.