Central Oregonian

Recover, Renew, Resume

St. Charles Rehabilitation Center helping patients in Prineville

FAYE TAYLOR/SPECIAL TO THE CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Speech therapist Kim Roerig (left) and St. Charles Rehabilitation Center manager and physical therapist Jean West.

March 04, 2013

Some Prineville residents have special needs that are not always convenient for them or their caregivers to obtain.

St. Charles Rehabilitation Center helps fill the gap and provides an option to driving to Bend or Redmond for outpatient rehabilitation care.

The center gets some referrals from neurologists and orthopedic surgeons from Bend or Redmond who come to Prineville to see patients once a week. Some out-of-town specialists, who have Prineville patients, also make trips to Prineville.

“We’ll see patients even three times a week, so if they’re driving to Redmond that often, especially in the winter, it can be a challenge. We have some patients that fatigue really easily, so for them to come in for speech, physical, and occupational therapy back to back, it’s a huge challenge,” speech therapist Kim Roerig explained.

The center’s comprehensive rehabilitation team consists of St. Charles Outpatient Rehab Center Manager and physical therapist Jean West, speech therapist Kim Roerig, and occupational therapist Karina O’Conner.

“We see primarily adult patients. We see a lot of stroke patients, Parkinson disease, and this is the first time Prineville has had outpatient speech therapy and occupational therapy,” explained Roerig.

According to Roerig, occupational therapy deals mostly with fine motor skills for activities of daily living, like writing, hand strength, getting dressed, and eating, to name a few. It also includes some vision and cognitive therapy.

The center opened in October last year and is currently operating three days a week. As demand increases, so will their hours of operation.

“Generally we see patients with neurological problems, balance issues, dizziness issues, so they’re usually more complex,” West said regarding her physical therapy patients. “They may have orthopedic issues, but they have some other things going on, like they had a stroke, or multiple sclerosis.”

West explained that in addition to using modalities such a heat and ultrasound, they also have equipment in their gym that their patients use for exercises. Once patients have progressed to a certain point, she will visit patients at the local gyms in town to get them started in a routine.

“It’s similar to what the physicians are doing — trying to reach out to the smaller communities and offer their specialty services in that area,” West explained.

The three therapists also serve other towns in Central Oregon and are travelling between the areas as their case loads require.

The trio is eager to give educational talks to groups who might benefit from their expertise.

“We’ve talked to senior centers in other communities, to give some tips and ideas to people to make their lives a little bit easier, or less painful, or more mobile,” West said.