Rehabilitation

St. Mary’s Rehabilitative Services is committed to improving quality of life by reducing pain and maximizing the functionality of patients with disabilities or injuries through comprehensive, individualized care.

St. Mary’s offers the latest in state-of-the-art technology, including the area’s only Anodyne Therapy System to treat pain associated with diabetic neuropathy, osteoarthritis, plantar fasciitis and more, and the new Vital-Stem feeding and swallowing system offering patients the best in neuro-facial technology to effectively manage pain and increase function with maximum results.

St. Mary’s practices a comprehensive team approach to therapy; utilizing education for patient’s and caregivers, paired with physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology, when appropriate. St. Mary’s highly trained rehabilitative staff work with patients to evaluate pain levels and create, implement and track progress of personalized therapy plans.

St. Mary’s physical therapy team will help any patient, from birth to older adult, with functional mobility and/or soft tissue pain limitation. This department, which abides by American Physical Therapy Association standards, offers modalities including therapeutic exercise to reduce pain and improve functionality.

Your pain or physical limitations do not have to become your way of life. St. Mary’s philosophy is to assess your limitations, evaluate your abilities and work with you to reach your maximum potential.

St. Mary’s licensed physical therapists use special programs to help patients progress, including vestibular rehabilitation to regain balance, and Anodyne therapy to treat pain. Each physical therapist on staff has a minimum of the following qualifications:

• Degree in Physical Therapy from an accredited university
• Continuing education courses
• Georgia state licensure

Physical therapy is often used in conjunction with occupational therapy and speech therapy to treat gross motor skills along with fine motor skills and oral motor movements. Our therapists will work with you to determine the most appropriate rehabilitation plan. A physician’s referral is required for rehabilitative treatment. Please call St. Mary’s Outpatient Rehab for more information at (706) 389-2950.

Occupational therapy is most commonly seen as treatment for activities of daily living involving dexterity, cognition and achievement of life skills appropriate for each patient. Therapists work closely with patients to educate, maximize independence, maintain health and obtain adaptive equipment necessary to help with everyday skills.

Each Occupational Therapist on staff at St. Mary’s has the following credentials:

• A Degree in Occupational Therapy from an accredited university
• Continuing education (sensory integration specialist, Listening therapy, NDT certification, wheelchair fitting, modalities etc.
• Georgia State licensure

Patients of any age experiencing delays in fine motor, perceptual, or visual skills, attention, motor planning, organization, activities of daily living and or other physical impairments may benefit from working with an occupational therapist. St. Mary’s offers the areas only Sensory Integration Certified Therapist, an NDT Certified Therapist, listening therapy program, wheel chair fitting, splinting and more. Physical therapists, speech language therapists and St. Mary’s Wellness Center are located on site to ensure a complete continuum of rehabilitative care.

Speech language therapy rounds out the comprehensive team approach to rehabilitation. St. Mary’s specialized, licensed speech language pathologists help patients from pediatrics to geriatrics, regain and improve communication and swallowing skills. Using a variety of oral-neuromuscular and cognitive-linguistic treatments, pathologists treat aphasia, articulation, voice disorders, stuttering and swallowing disorders.

St. Mary’s Speech and Language Therapists effectively treat patients of all ages and specialize in pediatrics and adults. The following credentials are required:

• Graduate degree in Speech and Language Pathology from an accredited university.
• Clinical Certificate of Competence (CCC) through the American Speech/Language and Hearing Association (ASHA)
• Continuing education
• Georgia state licensure

St. Mary’s Gold Plus Certification in stroke care holds our program to the highest standards in stroke rehab. St. Mary’s speech therapists use cutting edge technology such as ‘Vital Stim’ for the reactivation of oral facial muscles to improve swallowing function through electrical stimulation and biofeedback. In addition, St. Mary’s therapy team brings years of skilled care in evaluation and treatment for all kinds of speech, cognitive, processing and language issues.

Pediatric Rehabilitation

Whether recovering from a sports injury or living with cerebral palsy, St. Mary’s highly qualified and compassionate therapists have the skill and expertise to help your child feel better.

St. Mary’s Pediatric Rehabilitation program is at the forefront of regional programs offering comprehensive PT, OT and Speech/Language Therapy conveniently located together at St. Mary’s state-of-the-art Outpatient Rehabilitation Center in Athens. Therapists at St. Mary’s specialize in pediatric disorders and offer unique services to personalize care to your child’s needs, including:

• Our region’s only licensed listening therapy program
• The area’s only therapeutic trapeze program through Canopy
• Athens only Sensory Integration Certified therapist
• Feeding clinic supervised by a pediatric dysphagia therapist
• Deaf and hard-of-hearing communication therapy with sign language experience
• Cranial-sacral, Myofascial release therapy
• Craniofacial and Cleft palate therapy
• AAC (alternative augmentative communication) ordering and programming
• Hand splinting and wheelchair fittings
• Orthoses ordering and training for patient’s and their families
• Torticollis treatments
• Autism spectrum and PDD treatment coordination and behavioral need support
• Expanded collaboration with a well established pediatric team to address and train in nearly every complication referred