Local physical therapy clinics adapt to new strategies during coronavirus pandemic

Physical therapy is known for being hands-on, which can be difficult during the era of coronavirus.

“You get stiff so quick, you gotta keep moving,” said Elizabeth Eberts, a physical therapist at the Jordan Physical Therapy Center in Palm Desert.

Coronavirus hasn’t made that so easy. 

When the stay-at-home order was first put into place, physical therapy clinics were limited to essential patients. Now, those restrictions have started to ease up.

“Number one priority is always our patients’ safety, well-being and health," Eberts said. "We only have two therapists on the floor at a time to minimize contact between patients.”

The Jordan Physical Therapy Center in Palm Desert has reduced the number of patients in the clinic at a time by more than 50 percent. But, Eberts says she’s just happy to be back.

“When you wake up every day and you love what you do and you feel like you’re surrounded by family, it’s really hard not to have that every day,” she said.

Dynamic Physical Therapy in Palm Desert has also put new protocols in place, as they start to welcome more patients back to the clinic.

“It’s been difficult for patients to want to come back in, just because of the unknown, but we’ve done here, as much as we could to make people feel safe with us wearing masks, the patients wearing masks, us wearing gloves if we’re doing hands on therapy,” said Karen Elbert, co-owner and physical therapist at Dynamic Physical Therapy.

Both clinics have also adapted virtual means.

“It’s definitely different, it’s not a preference, but it’s a way for us to keep patients safe and also keep the business afloat and running,” said Elbert.

“We actually put out some content for our patients in the meantime, because we were worried that people would stop moving a bit," Eberts said. "We got together and did some exercise videos for the site, and in addition, we offered TeleMedicine.”

Now, they’re happy to see things moving in a positive direction.

“It’s still hard. It’s hard with all the new regulations being set in place because we can’t be booming like we usually are, but just that people are so excited to come out and move their bodies and be in therapy is very encouraging,” Eberts said.