Guthrie County Hospital and Clinics celebrated an expansion of their outpatient services with an open house Wednesday.

The Stuart Rehab Clinic officially opened on January 13th, housed on the lower level of the Guthrie County Hospital Stuart Clinic. What was previously an unfinished basement is now the home for physical therapy on Mondays and Thursdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. with licensed physical therapist Kari Johns. She has worked for Guthrie County Hospital and Clinics for over 13 years, and she shares her reaction to the new facility becoming a reality, “I was excited although hesitant because we started talking about this in 2011 originally and circumstances were that it just didn’t happen at that time. So when they first started talking about it a year ago I didn’t really think it was going to happen and then everything just kept on moving forward and we’re just happy to be here.”

Guthrie County Hospital CEO Pat Peters says the rehab department is one of the hospital’s largest assets, and so it only made sense to expand the service to the Stuart area, “And there’s actually space for growth so in the future if we have other services that may come online or be identified as a need, we’ll be able to accommodate that.”

The public got to tour the new clinic, ask questions of the staff, and enjoy a complimentary lunch. The clinic provides physical therapy for conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, athletic injuries, stroke and other neurological problems, and orthopedic issues. As the client base grows, Johns hopes the clinic can eventually also provide speech and occupational therapy.