Submitted by Terri Drahn, Kim Foley and Bobbie Holt, Lopez Physical Therapy

As many of you are aware, physical therapy was not included in the transition of the Lopez Clinic. The community believes strongly that physical therapy is a critical service for our island, and together we are making every effort to continue to offer PT here on Lopez.

In order to make this happen, we are forming Lopez Island Physical Therapy LLC as a private practice. This is a huge task as it requires not only the many steps involved in establishing a business but also the process of our therapists being credentialed with insurance payers and the negotiating of contracts from these payers. This process can take 2-3 months to complete.

The clinic based physical therapy will end on Sept. 23. We will be closed the last week of September while we make the final transition to the private practice.

Lopez Island Physical Therapy will open on Oct. 2. Initially, we anticipate being able to see Medicare insured patients and patients that are able to pay by cash or credit card at the time of service. We will begin accepting additional insurance plans as the various insurance contracts are approved.

For the immediate future, we will retain our space in the clinic facility. However, we are actively evaluating other options in the village that will offer a larger space and allow our physical therapy practice to grow.

We are extremely grateful to the Catherine Washburn Medical Association board for its tremendous assistance in helping us keep physical therapy open, and thankful for the many individuals in the community who have offered us their encouragement and support with this endeavor.