Time sure does fly! We can’t believe it’s been 20 years since we first opened our doors in Kemptville. In October 1996, Carrie Smith moved to the area and decided to open a clinic in Kemptville. Carrie had previously worked in private practices in Toronto, Barrie and Alberta, and knew the type of clinic that she wanted to establish. She was a Certified Sport Physiotherapist and, at that time, was the Chief Physiotherapist for the Canadian Women’s National Hockey Team (she went on to work with the team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan).
Kemptville was a perfect location. KDH had a 6-month waiting list for physiotherapy and there were no private clinics in the area, plus it was a growing community. Carrie got started right away by renting a room in the Kemptville Medical Centre and Kemptville Physiotherapy Centre (KPC) was born. Carrie often tells stories of how her patients had to do their exercises in the waiting room of the Medical Centre, because there was not enough room in her office! She has also kept her appointment book from 1996, where she had one patient booked on opening day.
The clinic became very busy, very quickly, and KPC soon outgrew the small treatment space. In May of 1997, we moved to a 1,000 sq. ft. location in the Cornerstone Mall, right beside the Medical Centre. The clinic grew along with the community. It wasn’t much longer until we needed more help, and we hired another Physiotherapist, as well as our first Registered Massage Therapist, Cathy Puddister, who has remained at the clinic to this day. Within three years, we outgrew our space in the Cornerstone Mall and moved to a 2,000 sq. ft. location across from Mac’s on Rideau St.
Carrie continued her Sport Physiotherapy practice by working with the Kemptville 73’s, the Kemptville Kougars Women’s Soccer Team, local high school football and rugby teams, and by becoming the Chief Physiotherapist for both the Canadian Men’s National Rugby Team and the National Women’s CIS 7’s Rugby Team.
Carrie’s sports involvement required a significant amount of travel, so it was time to hire more Physiotherapists at the clinic, and with more Physiotherapists the clinic needed more space. In 2005, KPC moved to its present location in the Creekside Mall, and since then has grown to 4,000 sq. ft. The clinic was one of the original tenants of the mall, and it’s a location that suits us very well.
KPC has always prided itself on keeping up with new research and techniques, and being on the forefront of new and innovative treatments. Four years ago we added CryoSauna to our growing list of services. We were the fourth clinic in Canada to offer this service. CryoSauna is a whole body cryotherapy treatment to help manage both acute and chronic pain, as well as sport injuries and inflammation from arthritis.
Over the last 20 years, we have treated families, athletes, the old and the young…and we have recently expanded again to include the family pet! Carrie received her Certification in Canine Rehabilitation 14 years ago, and, together with clinic partner and dog physio Nicole Hawken, we opened Kemptville Canine Centre, which has just celebrated its first anniversary!
Kemptville Canine Centre treats all kinds of injured dogs; from agility dogs with sport injuries, to post-operative knee repairs and geriatric, arthritic dogs. Carrie often jokes that she now treats humans, animals and rugby players (because she doesn’t know which category the rugby players fall into). Dogs have very similar anatomy to humans, and whatever you can treat in a human, you can also treat in a dog!
On its 20th anniversary, Kemptville Physiotherapy Centre now boasts six Registered Physiotherapists, four Registered Massage Therapists, a Cryosauna Technician, five reception staff and two Dog Physios. One of our clinic goals is to be a supporter of local teams and events. We continue to be a major sponsor of the Kemptville 73’s, where we supply medical coverage for all games and provide the players with treatment when they are sidelined. We are also a major supporter of Neon Nights, the walk for the elimination of childhood cancer. KPC is also on the sidelines for medical coverage for the Kemptville Football League and we cover local high school rugby games.
KPC will continue to be a supporter within our community and will continue to bring new and innovative therapy techniques to our clients. We look forward to our next 20 years!
