Olmsted Medical Center unveils its new Rehabilitation Services space

ROCHESTER — More room, more privacy and more specialization are all aspects of Olmsted Medical Center's new Rehabilitation Services space at 102 Elton Hills Drive NW, just one door over from the department's previous location and neighboring OMC's north FastCare Clinic.

Ambassadors with the Rochester Chamber of Commerce were among the first Rochesterites to see the new facilities ahead of a public open house Monday afternoon.

Teresa Erickson, manager of rehabilitation services at OMC, said the new space has nearly triple the square footage as OMC's previous rehabilitation clinic. More space means more areas devoted to specific types of rehabilitation care, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

"Before, what we had, we added services and we had to do the best we could in the space that we had," Erickson said. "This space has been created for those specialties, so patients can come in, they feel comfortable, and it's very warm and welcoming and exciting and energetic as well."

The department features a large room with treadmills, an exercise bike and other large exercise equipment that clinicians can use with patients. Among the department's available equipment is a vision simulator, which looks like a large touchscreen TV on a tall stand that can be moved from room to room.

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"We're really excited with the space now. We can get it out and use it with a lot more ... patients rather than just our vestibular or post-concussion patients that have dizziness or even trouble just tolerating bright lights and movement," said Elizabeth Draper, physical therapist and rehabilitation services lead.

Patients experiencing dizziness, headaches and balance issues can use the vision simulator — and the connected balance board — to practice performing tasks in situations that could be overstimulating for them, such as moving through the aisles of a grocery store.

Several smaller rooms branch out from the building's central space. These independent spaces are specific to different services and can offer more privacy for patients undergoing treatment such as pelvic floor therapy or occupational therapy.

"If you have someone who broke their wrist, they're going to feel embarrassed — 'I can't pull my pants up,' 'I can't put my bra on,'" said occupational therapist Michelle Beecher. "We can actually have that conversation right here."

There's also a specific room for pediatric physical therapy where providers can help kids with a wide array of conditions. Physical therapist Nora Laskowski said she works with infants who have torticollis, where an infant's head is tilted to one side, and toddlers who have issues with walking or other motor skills.

"Every condition that adults have, technically kids can have, too, it's just that they're small," said physical therapist Nora Laskowski. "It can be a little bit different in terms of how you do it. You can't just give them an exercise and go, 'OK, there you go.' A lot of the things I do, especially with kids under 5, I try and only do like two or three things that are play-driven, because you've gotta make it fun."

Starting Tuesday, Erickson said OMC expects to see up to 120 patients at this location each day, with 13 to 14 clinicians providing care across several rehabilitative specialties.

"Anything from your acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions like a sprained ankle or carpal tunnel on your wrist, to those specialty things like lymphedema, pelvic health, speech pathology," Erickson said. "It's also activities of daily living and cognition, so you can do memory and sequencing around remembering how to just dress for dementia and Parkinson's populations."

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OMC Rehabilitation Services is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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