WYNNE — St. Bernards CrossRidge Community Hospital has leased the former Hibbett Sports building next to Hays at the Oakwood Shopping Center to expand its physical therapy and health & wellness departments.
Physical therapy is currently located inside the hospital, while health & wellness is renting space inside of Wynne Apothecary.
“Everybody’s on top of each other. We’re up to four therapists now. Last month, the month of July, we did 699 treatments in 22 working days. Four therapists, each of us have a patient plus a secretary plus a tech, we start bumping shoulders pretty quickly,” said Robert Brawner, Director of Rehab Services at CrossRidge. “Garrett (Hospital administrator Garrett Morgan) came to me about the space at Hibbett. We went and looked at it and I tried to hide my excitement because it was just a blank space and we could make it how we wanted. I’m thankful for him. I’m thankful for the leadership at St. Bernards. They all came together and here we are.”
Andy Shatley, Executive Director of Rehab Services for St. Bernards, discussed plans for the space during a meeting of the CrossRidge Governing Board yesterday.
The space for both departments will more than double with the expansion. Rehab services will go from approximately 1,500 square feet to about 3,850 square feet. The wellness center will go from about 1,000 square feet to 2,400 square feet. The new facility will also include about 1,250 square feet of additional storage space for the hospital.
Shatley said the expansion will allow CrossRidge to greatly increase its capacity, with an estimated 800 to 1,000 additional therapy visits each year. The hospital could also add more therapists to the department.
Shatley said physical therapy should be able to relocate to the building by mid-December, with health & wellness relocating sometime in the new year.
CrossRidge is currently seeking grant opportunities to add a new service in the space now occupied by physical therapy.
