Physical Therapist, Manager of Therapy Services Interests: Orthopedic, Neurologic, Geriatric, Functional Conditioning, Gait, Orthopedic Surgery Rehabilitation, Joint Mobilization, Spinal Cord Injury, Work Hardening, Vestibular, Recreational and Adaptive Sports, and Posture Driven Pain Management, Years of Experience: 6 Education: Eastern Washington University: Bachelors of Science – Exercise Science, University of Puget Sound: Doctorate of Physical Therapy Professionally, I’ve been a bit of a generalist my entire career thanks to never ending up quite where I expected, but thanks to the therapy field, always where I was needed. I went into my doctorate program thinking I’ll always be in physical conditioning and performance improvement type in sports orthopedics. I graduated thinking I’ll never leave the neurological unit, exited screaming out of the concrete jungles where spinal cord injury facilities live then started a career with the geriatric population to live in Bend Oregon. I ended up greatly enjoying transitional rehabilitation and made a career out of managing them in three different States, and finally find myself settling where I am able to combine them all. My treatment approaches are based in biomechanics and exercise physiology adaptation that paired quite well with my functional outcomes driven goals. As therapists, we have the unique opportunity to help each patient get back to what is important to them, which should always be our main goal. I am excited to find myself in this close-knit community where I can capitalize on my varied background to treat the breadth of diagnoses found in rural settings. Like many PTs, my lifestyle has also paired well with my career choice and helped further my understanding as a professional. My favorite pastime, mountain biking, has also blessed me with multiple experiences to see both sides of physical therapy during my twenties. Olympic lifting, a hobby I have kept up with since high school, is a study of biomechanics, leverage angles, and force vectors that has aided me considerably in problem solving deficits. I believe that being able to enjoy recreational activities and ease of movement is a boon during our time on Earth, and I am so happy to be in a career designed to assist people with these goals.

Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA P160788654) Athletic Trainer Certified Interests: Organized Sports, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Injury, Pain Relief Myofascial Release, Concussion management, Therapeutic Exercise, Cupping Years of Experience: PTA 3, ATC 5 Education: Brigham Young University – Bachelors of Health Science University of Idaho – Masters in Athletic Training Kent State University – Physical Therapist Assistant I moved to Ritzville from Othello in 2002 right before my junior year of high school. I was privileged to attend, what was then, Ritzville High School and be a part of the community for two years before graduating in 2004. I returned to Ritzville with my own little family in 2015 and we have loved being here. During my time away, I furthered my education with a degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho in Health Science and a Master’s degree in athletic training from the University of Idaho. In 2017 I completed my Physical Therapist Assistant degree so that I could be of further use in helping out the members of our amazing community. I have loved working at EARH and getting to know more members of the community and surrounding area. I love when I get to see patients come into our clinic in pain and leave feeling and moving better. It’s such a rewarding feeling. As a PTA, I have been exposed to, and employ many different techniques and philosophies for treating injury and know that there are options for everyone who may need to come see us. As a part of my role here at EARH we have been able to establish a partnership with the local school district where I have been able to provide athletic training services for our sports teams. I have loved this aspect of my job and it has been great to be around our community’s athletes and do my part in keeping your kids safe. I have a familiarity with our school and sports programs having spent time fully immersed in them as a teen. I look forward to further developing my role in the partnership between the hospital and school district. When not at work I am usually spending time with my wife and four children, puttering around in my yard trying not to mess up my landscaping too much, or working on one of the thousand projects my wife has on her honey-do list. We enjoy being in Ritzville and being around such great people.

Years of Experience: 18 years Education: Gonzaga University (Exercise Science), Eastern Washington University (Occupational Therapy) I started my career in Occupational Therapy after taking a year off after graduating from Gonzaga in 2000 and working a desk job (in Human Resources), I quickly learned that sitting at a computer was not for me! I found the field of Occupational Therapy by accident, I was searching in many areas of healthcare and this seemed to be the best fit. After graduating from EWU in June of 2003 I started at Sacred Heart Medical Center and fell in love with the fast pace, busy schedules, variety of patients and the very unique and knowledgeable staff. I worked at Sacred Heart for 8 years and was a part of the Burn Team, VAD (Ventricular Assistive Devices)Team (where I spoke at the state conference on therapy and VADs), Deep Brain Stimulator research team, Post Stroke research team, and many more. I loved my time in the ICU and was very blessed to work with many complex patients. I left Sacred Heart to join a rehab team at NIACH (North Idaho Advanced Care Hospital), where after a year I became the director and stayed for five years. This was truly the highlight of my career. Working in long term rehab and helping the most complex patients through the entire (sometimes many months) rehab process was an amazing experience. After moving to Ritzville the commute became too hard on my family and I decided to make the leap to rural healthcare. I have loved getting to know patients all over the area and working in outpatient, inpatient and schools. The somewhat slower pace is a blessing to my family and allows me to continue my career and be a mom/wife.