Spokane-based St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute has moved its Spokane Valley outpatient physical therapy clinic and says it's expanding the clinic to serve injured workers.

The clinic has leased 2,400 square feet of floor space in a single-story retail building at 9119 E. Broadway, which also is occupied by a Starbucks Corp. outlet and a Weldon LLC barber shop, among others, says Nicole Stewart, a spokeswoman for St. Luke's.

Stewart says the new location at the northeast corner of Broadway Avenue and Argonne Road is highly visible with easy patient access. The St. Luke's Valley Outpatient Clinic had been located in smaller quarters at 1414 N. Houk, near Valley Hospital & Medical Center, she says.

In the new location, the clinic is planning to offer occupational therapy in addition to the physical therapy services it provides.

Physical therapy focuses on the patient's range of motion, strengthening, and endurance, Stewart says. Occupational therapy focuses on the functional capacities of the patient in a clinical setting that simulates a work environment, she says.

The clinic plans to offer outpatient therapy for accident and on-the job injuries, sports injuries, strains and sprains, back and neck problems, and certain pre and post-operative conditions, Stewart says.

"With the increased focus on serving injured workers in the Valley, we are in the process of purchasing equipment to be added to that space," Stewart says.

The clinic employs seven people and will remain at that staffing level for now, Stewart says.

Chris Bell, of Spokane-based NAI Black, and Vic Overholser, of SDS Realty Inc., handled the Broadway lease.

St. Luke's also operates outpatient clinics at its hospital at 711 S. Cowley, on Spokane's lower South Hill, and in the Northpointe Medical Building, at 9631 N. Nevada, on Spokane's North Side.

St. Luke's is a division of Inland Northwest Health Systems, a Spokane-based nonprofit that includes Northwest MedStar critical-care and air-ambulance service, Information Resource Management electronic medical-records network, and community health-education programs.