The residents of Knox County spoke and The Laurels of Mt. Vernon listened. The nursing and rehabilitation center recently opened an outpatient clinic in Fredericktown and celebrated with a ribbon cutting Thursday afternoon.
“We were talking to a lot of the seniors in this area and the drive to Mount Vernon was just so stressful for them,” explained Curtis Farlee, Director of Marketing at The Laurels of Mt. Vernon.
Amy Campbell, regional director of business development, added that it was all about finding out the needs of the residents.
“For us, it was identifying some of the barriers that we saw patients and families coming to do outpatient at our facility within our clinic. We found that they said a 20 to 30 minute drive was a barrier,” Campbell said.
That was when The Laurels decided to take away that barrier by adding a clinic in Fredericktown.
“Hopefully, we’ll be having more people in this community doing that prehab therapy prior to surgery and getting themselves just as strong as they can be even before going into surgery as well as after,” Campbell said.
The new outpatient clinic is located in a former biology room at the old Fredericktown High School. Weights and exercise machines have replaced textbooks and microscopes, but education remains an ongoing focus for the old classroom.
“We are going to be doing occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy,” said Rehabilitation Services Director Shannon Ponko. “We will be able to do any therapy services required in the community.”
Ponko stressed that they will be serving any age group.
“I know The Laurels is sometimes associated with an older population, but that’s not necessarily the case. We can see any age group, right down to children. Our speech therapist and our occupational therapist have experience treating children. So we can basically see any condition that would require therapy services.”
Though patients are often referred to The Laurels by a physician first, Ponko said potential patients can also contact the facility to take part in their services. They would simply need an order from a physician to begin therapy and insurance information.
“I’m hoping that it’s going to be an awesome experience for all of us,” Ponko said. “We’ve been really excited, planning it for a long time. To see it start to come to light – we already had a lot of people interested in starting up and coming in. I think it’s going to be a really good thing for the community.”
Knox County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carol Grubaugh was excited for The Laurels’ recent expansion.
“They have an extended plan for the future and part of that is happening today right here in this room,” Grubaugh said. “How exciting that their team is thinking ahead and planning the needs for our county.”
A representative from Congressman Bob Gibbs’ office also presented The Laurels with an official proclamation.
The new outpatient clinic is located at 117 Columbus Rd., Fredericktown. The main facility can be found at 13 Avalon Rd. in Mount Vernon. For more information about The Laurels of Mt. Vernon visit www.laurelsofmtvernon.com.
