I believe that I ended up right where I was supposed to be! Coming to KDH was an easy choice – it feels like home.
Tanya Collins,PhysiotherapistKemptville District Hospital
I have been a Physiotherapist since 2002 and started my career in a large hospital in Mississauga, with a focus on acute neurology and neuro rehab. I joined the KDH team in 2012. I am continually proud of our small Physiotherapy Department that does big things! In addition to the consistent care that we provide to our inpatients, we have developed opportunities and partnerships as well as evolved practices to be leaders in important programming within our KDH walls (our total joint replacement surgical program) and in our community (Parkinson’s program, GLA:D Canada, and Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab).
A large focus of my role in recent years has been our total joint replacement program. I currently do pre-operative education with all patients coming to KDH for a joint replacement, and work with them while they are in hospital after the surgery.
A highlight of my role at KDH has been developing programming for our weekly Parkinson’s Exercise and Movement class, which, pre-COVID, we offered at the site of a community partner, The Workshop Dance Studio. I have also had the opportunity to run the GLA:D Canada Program (an evidence-based education and exercise program for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis) here at KDH; this has been exciting and rewarding.
What I find most satisfying about my work is the opportunity to make a difference to someone – hopefully in many cases, a long-term difference in their quality of life – and also the opportunity to be kind and attentive to people’s day to day needs in the hopes of making them feel cared for, even in small ways.
Physiotherapy wasn’t a long-time ambition, but rather a path that evolved as I worked hard at each opportunity that presented itself. I believe that I ended up right where I was supposed to be! Coming to KDH was an easy choice – it feels like home.
