Clark County Physical Therapy and Rehab opened its doors Thursday morning to patients, making it the first service of its kind in Kentucky to operate through a county health department.

The service grew out of the Clark County Health Department’s Home Health program, and is designed to offer assistance to those who finish with home health services but still require some medical interventions.

According to Dr. Chris Sharrock, who will provide physical therapy services, the goal is to provide a “continuum of care” to Clark County patients.

While Clark County is not the only county to have a health department offering home health services, the addition of an outpatient service to supplement home health is new in Kentucky, according to Public Health Director Scott Lockard.

The health department also offers outpatient speech therapy provided by Jayne Allen.

Outpatient services will be offered 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Friday with additional hours by appointment.