Rockwood Clinic PS says it plans to open a physical therapy clinic in Cheney, its fourth overall.


The Spokane-based physicians group has leased a 3,900-square-foot space at 1717 First Street, in Cheney, and expects to open a clinic there at the beginning of September.


Tom Metzger, director of Rockwoods physical therapy services, says the new clinic will be staffed by one full-time physical therapist and two support staff members at first, but eventually could employ up to three physical therapists and six additional staff members.


Eventually, the clinic also might include cross-disciplinary care such as chiropractic, counseling, and nutrition services, Metzger says.


He says Rockwood Clinics physical therapy department has expanded more than tenfold over the last six years, beginning with three employees and one clinic and now employing more than 40 people in three locations. The physical therapy field in general has grown, he adds, as insurance companies increasingly reimburse physical therapy services that could reduce the need for surgery and other more expensive medical treatments. Metzger says physical therapists at Rockwood Clinic increasingly work with elderly patients and with people who have special needs, such as patients with cerebral palsy.


The planned Cheney clinic also will augment sports medicine services that Rockwood Clinic currently provides to Eastern Washington University.


We dont want to duplicate services, but complement them, Metzger says.


Rockwood Clinic also operates a general medical clinic in Cheney that serves both Cheney residents and EWU students, Metzger says.


Chris Bell and Earl Engle, of Spokane-based NAI Black, and Cory Barbieri, of Spokane-based Goodale & Barbieri Co., handled the lease, Metzger says. Tenant improvements in the former medical office are being done by Battermann Construction, of Greenacres, and include adding more gym space and reconfiguring patient rooms.