For Benjamin resident Janine Loveless, the opening of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Center in Orem came just in time.
She was getting so discouraged with the arduous drive to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City that she was considering discontinuing therapy for her 7-year-old, Kyle.
"It was just ridiculous," Loveless said. "I was getting so discouraged. I mean, it's obvious what I was dealing with."
On the other hand, the opening of the new Intermountain Health Care center on the campus of the Orem Community Hospital is a godsend.
"It's wonderful!" said Loveless. "I know what it means for me and I know a lot of other parents who'll probably transfer once they find out it's here."
The new pediatric rehabi center opened June 11, the only pediatric rehab facility located south of Salt Lake City.
The center will focus on children through age 21 who need physical, speech and/or occupational therapy because of chronic conditions or syndromes; and those who've suffered disabilities from injuries related to accidents.
Kyle Loveless comes for therapy because he was hit by a car when he was 2 1/2.
The walking, talking youngster barely clung to life for months and was not expected to ever regain his motor skills or walk again, said his mother.
Four years and much therapy later, he is a grinner. He grins when he's asked to catch butterflies coming up out of a toy elephant's plastic truck. He laughs when he gets a match in the Memory card game.
He's all smiles when he flies through the air on the red plastic "horse" swing with his therapist, Heidi Storstad.
He crawls, "swims" in a pool full of colored balls and takes careful steps with his walker.
"I was totally amazed when I saw his progress," Storstad said. Storstad worked briefly with Kyle just after his accident and now has him as one of the first patients at the new center.
Storstad has an enviable array of new brightly colored equipment to use with her patients including a mini-tramp, a rocking yellow fish, soft mats, two swings, an activity table that adjusts to a little patient's height and benches that tilt so a patient like Kyle has to sit up properly.
There's a supply of brand-new games as well. "That's fun because the kids get to help open them and do extra things like punch out the playing cards," Storstad said.
Everything in the center's playroom is used to help children regain a motor, memory or social skill. It's a colorful, fun room filled with possibilities.
In adult rehab, where sometimes a child may have met with a therapist prior to the pediatric center's opening, Storstad said it was difficult to scale things down for a child. "Plus, we weren't allowed to have the equipment stay out. It just wasn't designed for children."
Kyle comes in once a week to the new center at 331 N. 400 West for two hours.
For his mother, coming into Orem for the sessions beats a minimum of two hours out of the travel time she was investing.
"I was very thrilled to say the least," she said. "I'm so grateful they decided to do this."
Intermountain Health Care had invested $18,000 into remodeling the building that houses the Pediatric Rehabilitation Center as well as purchasing the equipment and setup supplies.
Kim Nielsen, operations officer with Intermountain Health Care in Utah County, said the corporation understands that many families have been commuting for the long term. "Thus we made the decision to make the investment," Nielsen said.
"They've had pediatric rehab for years up at Primary's," Stor-stad said. "There just hasn't been anything past the Point of the Mountain until now."