TIPP CITY — SpringMeade Health Center, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center, is celebrating National Occupational Therapy Month, a nationwide observance held each April.

In short, occupational therapy (OT) can help people of all ages regain their independence from situations causing them sensory, physical, and cognitive problems., said a press release from SpringMeade Health Center. In honor of OT Month, the staff and residents of SpringMeade would like to recognize their occupational therapy team, which consists of a team of five.

SpringMeade’s OT team is led by Chelsea Gardner, COTA/L therapy program manager. Director ofrehabilitation and occupational therapy’s assistant, Gardner has been a therapist since 2015. She started at SpringMeade as an STNA and has made this facility her home over the last 10 years.

Maggie Mason, occupational therapist, has been in the occupational therapy professions since 1998 where she started as an occupational therapy assistant. In 2021, Maggie received her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy.

Occupational Therapy Assistant, Tim Gurklies, has been a therapist for 24 years. His favorite part of his occupational therapy profession is seeing patients progress to their home goals.

Occupational Therapy Assistant, Torika Green, has been an occupational therapy assistant for 15 years. Torika loves the quote which reflects the practice of occupational therapy and is how she thinks when overcoming patient challenges, “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower”.

Occupational Therapy Assistant, Lynn Sherman, has been an occupational therapy assistant for 8 years and she has been at SpringMeade for 4 years. She is focused on helping her patient’s reach their fullest potential to ensure a good quality of life for them.

The occupational therapy team is a dedicated group of licensed individuals who are trained to help patients overcome challenges that they face. The therapists help patients’ problem solve and address areas of concern to ensure patients can live as independently as possible. The team is trained to address orthopedic, cardiac recovery, pulmonary recovery and rehab, stroke, and neurological recovery and much more.

The focus for the cccupational therapy team is independence with activities of daily living and they also provide in-home assessments prior to a patient discharging to ensure patients are returning home safely with every possible obstacle addressed to prevent re-hospitalization.

The team works with short term patients daily and up to seven days a week. They also assist the long-term patients at this facility to ensure that they can maintain as much independence as possible and to help prevent decline while residing on our grounds.

“Our occupational therapy team strives diligently to get our residents back to independence with their ADLs. They all work so well together and are a pleasure to work with,” said Charity Toon, Facility Nurse Navigator.

SpringMeade Health Center is an affiliate of Premier Health and is located between Miami Valley Hospital South, Miami Valley Hospital North, Atrium Medical Center and Upper Valley Medical Center. SpringMeade offers both short-term rehab services and long-term care, including memory care, and accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance.

If interested in learning more about SpringMeade, please call 937-667-7500 or visit on the web at https://www.premierhealth.com/locations/springmeade-health-center