New Business: MedFit Holds Grand Opening

MedFIT Physical Therapy & Wellness, an outpatient physical therapy, rehabilitation and wellness center, held its grand opening on Thursday at its new Irmo facility.

The center, which is located at 10071 Broad River Road in Irmo, contains a couple of individual treatment rooms, a massage therapy room and a gym area.

Members of the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce, Miss South Carolina Bree Boyce, Miss Greater Irmo Glenda Robinson, councilmembers Hard King and Barry Walker Sr. as well as a host of family and friends joined MedFIT employees for a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the center's opening on Oct. 3.

The Irmo Chamber organized the event.

"I’m excited to be a part of (the grand opening) especially since it’s something so near and dear to heart, wellness and wellbeing," Miss South Carolina Bree Boyce said. "Once weighing over 234 pounds, I know the importance of taking care of your body and feeding your body the right nutritious foods and getting the right amount of physical activity every day."

"Being a part of this grand opening and seeing all of the people of the community come out and be so supportive of something that will benefit their health in the long run is great," Boyce said.

A variety of physical therapy and wellness services are offered including orthopedic rehabilitation, warm-water therapy, and weight reduction and management. Patients are seen through doctor referrals.

Daniel B. Wells, president of MedFIT, said the center is available to take a patient from rehab to a new healthy lifestyle.

“Once they finish their physical therapy, we want to be able to transition patients into personal training, and balance and flexibility through yoga and massage therapy,” Wells said.

In addition to those services, MedFIT also offers a company or business employee functional capability testing through its WorkSTEPS program.

WorkSTEPS is a post-offer/pre-employment functional capability test that is used to assess a new hire or employee returning to work from on-duty injuries.

Wells said the program is unique to the Columbia area and it's a significant service for a business.

"It’s important for the employer because they know that the person they’re hiring is physically capable of doing the job, Wells said. "It’s good for the new hire because then they don’t get into something that they can’t handle physically."

"It's good for coworkers because then they don’t get injured on the job because someone isn’t physically able to do their end of the job," he said.

The test also helps cut down on workers’ compensation claims, Wells said.

In addition to physician referrals, Robin L. Kruger, director of therapy, said the center also accepts patients without a referral for up to 30 calendar days.

Kruger, who has been a physical therapist for the past 30 years, said the center will allow her to help a patient through treatment and into maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which she wasn't always able to do in past experiences.

"One of my frustrations as a therapist was when the patient was done with therapy, I lost contact with them," Kruger said. "There’s no way for them to continue with wellness and exercise."

"This environment allows us an opportunity to follow a patient and to get them involved in a wellness plan that’s going to be a lifestyle change," Kruger said. 

For more information about the center, call 803-445-1069.