Physical therapy and rehabilitation

Pediatric rehabilitation center in Denver

As a parent, you want your child to be happy, healthy and to reach his or her full potential. Sometimes, illness, injury or surgery can get in the way of reaching those goals. That is why the Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Program at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center (RMHC at P/SL) in Denver offers pediatric rehabilitation therapies for children of all ages.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please call (720) 754-6760.

Our family-centered pediatric rehabilitation therapy program in Denver is designed to meet the needs of children—from newborns to 16-year-olds. You and your child's doctor play vital roles in your child's success. That is why we involve you and your doctor every step of the way. A strong relationship among everyone involved is the key to reaching your child’s maximum potential.

The Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation Program at RMHC at P/SL offers:

• Specialized rehabilitation services
• Age-appropriate learning tools
• Rooms where you can watch therapy and ensure your child feels comfortable
• Kid-friendly treatment areas
• Therapists trained specifically in pediatric services
• Next Step Developmental Progress Clinic

Pediatric outpatient rehabilitation therapy services

All of our rehabilitation therapists in Denver have advanced training and understanding of the unique needs of children. Depending on your child’s individual needs, he or she may work with one or more of our specialized rehabilitation therapists.

Pediatric physical therapy

Whether your child has trouble with motor skills as a baby or is recovering from a sports injury, our pediatric physical therapists can help.

Physical therapy helps your child gain strength and movement after an illness, injury or a developmental delay. Physical therapy can also help prevent permanent damage and recurring problems.

Physical therapy focuses on:

• Balance and coordination
• Developmental delay of motor skills (rolling, sitting, standing, walking)
• Difficulty walking or running (gait problems)
• Home program development and instruction
• Oncology rehabilitation
• Orthopedic physical therapy and neurological conditions
• Pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation
• Sports injuries or difficulty playing a sport
• Torticollis (head turning or leaning more in one direction than the other)
• Weakness
• Wheelchair and medical equipment evaluations

Meet our pediatric physical therapists

Kristy Azbell, PT, DPT, PCS 

Kristy received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Washington University, her master’s degree in health science from the University of Indianapolis and her doctorate degree in physical therapy from the University of Colorado at Denver. She specializes in pediatric and infant neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) and is a pediatric-certified specialist with the American Physical Therapy Association. Kristy has extensive experience working with children of all ages and diagnoses and has a background in adolescent orthopedics and sports medicine.

Sara Beville, PT, DPT

Sara received her doctorate degree in physical therapy from Regis University in Denver. She has experience in pediatric home health therapy, with a focus on the infant to three-year-old population. Sara also has experience in outpatient pediatric therapy, working with children of all ages with orthopedic, developmental and neurological diagnoses. She currently provides care for patients in RMHC’s pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric floor and outpatient center.

Bria Busta PT, DPT

Bria Busta received her doctorate degree in physical therapy from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. She has experience working with children with a variety of diagnoses in the inpatient, outpatient, and home health settings. She has volunteered many hours working with children of all ages with different neurological, developmental, and orthopedic diagnoses doing adaptive triathlons, along with swim and dance classes. She also has experience with the infant to three-year-old population assessing their development and working with them to meet their milestones.

Pediatric occupational therapy

Occupational therapy can help your child improve his or her cognitive, physical and motor skills, as well as enhance your child’s self-esteem and sense of accomplishment.

At the Pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine program at RMHC at P/SL, a pediatric occupational therapist evaluates your child's skills for play activities, school performance and activities of daily living and compares these skills to what is developmentally appropriate for his or her age.

Occupational therapy focuses on:

• Hand/arm function
• Lack of coordination
• Play skills, such as stacking blocks, ball skills
• Self-help skills, such as dressing, feeding self, organizational skills, memory, problem solving skills
• Sensory processing, including picky eaters, attention skills, motor skills/movement, self-regulation and vestibular and environment sensitivity
• Upper body weakness
• Visual/perceptual skills, such as writing, drawing, cutting, puzzles

Meet our pediatric occupational therapists

Jacqueline Mitchell, OTD, OTR/L

Jacqueline earned her doctorate degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She has experience in adult outpatient rehabilitation and pediatric inpatient and outpatient therapy. She has worked with kids, ranging from infants to 20-year-olds with a variety of diagnoses, including developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, congenital heart abnormalities and handwriting difficulties. Jacqueline works with children and their families to improve participation in daily living tasks through fun and inclusive, child-directed therapy.

Samantha Lewis, MS, OTR/L

Samantha has experience in inpatient and outpatient pediatric therapy with children 18 years old and younger. She helps care for patients with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism, developmental delay, apraxia, cancer, sensory processing disorder and fine motor difficulties. Samantha received her master’s degree from Texas Tech University.

Pediatric speech therapy

RMHC at P/SL provides comprehensive evaluations to assess all areas of your child’s communication skills. Evaluations are centered around the specific needs of your child to identify his or her strengths and areas of need.

Depending on the needs of your child, assessments will include a thorough evaluation of receptive and expressive language, articulation/phonology, voice, oral motor skills, pragmatic/social language functioning and feeding skills. We also offer modified barium swallow studies, which allow our specialists in Denver to diagnose swallowing disorders. Based on the results of our evaluation, therapy may be recommended on a weekly, biweekly or monthly schedule.

Speech therapy is individualized, often play-based and driven based on goals written through the identified areas of need. Parent involvement is encouraged and home programs and education is provided to ensure carry-over into your child’s natural environments.

Speech therapy addresses:

• Articulation and phonological disorders
• Cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and reasoning
• Delayed or minimal talking compared to other children
• Feeding, swallowing and oral-motor skills
• Play and social skills
• Pragmatic/social language deficits
• Receptive and/or expressive language disorders, including difficulty understanding, following directions and/or speaking

Meet our pediatric speech-language pathologists

Kristen Manchester, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC

Kristen received her master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She is a pediatric speech language pathologist who is passionate about providing feeding, speech and language services to infants and children with medical complexities and developmental delays. She enjoys working with children and their families to provide functional therapy solutions and believes therapy should be child-led and family-centered. Kristen has previously worked in the pediatric intensive care unit, home health and outpatient clinical settings, where she served infants and children with dysphagia, feeding difficulties, neurological deficits and disorders, speech and language delays. She currently provides outpatient speech, language, and feeding therapy to children with a wide variety of disorders and delays. She particularly enjoys working with the medically fragile pediatric population and with children from birth until three years old. Kristen is a Colorado native and loves exploring the mountains, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Lea Romani, MA, CCC-SLP, CLC

Lea is a pediatric speech-language pathologist, providing pediatric speech, language and feeding services. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech-language pathology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Lea has worked in many settings, including pediatric outpatient and acute care. She provides feeding and speech-language services for RMHC’s pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric floor and outpatient center. She also works with the multidisciplinary team in RHMC’s feeding clinic, addressing gastrointestinal, feeding and nutrition concerns. Lea works with many different feeding and speech disorders, including dysphagia, oral, motor and speech/language delays and limited diets. She offers diverse treatment methods, including Beckman Oral Motor, SOS and TalkTools.

Lesley Russel, MS, CCC-SLP

Lesley earned her bachelor’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Over the last 18 years, she has had the pleasure of working with both children and adults in a variety of settings including, inpatient, home health therapy and outpatient therapy. She currently provides care for patients in RMHC’s pediatric intensive care unit, pediatric floor and outpatient pediatric rehabilitation. She holds her Certificate of Clinical Competence with the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association. She is excited to be a part of a great collaborative team at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children.

Make a pediatric therapy appointment

A physician referral is required for pediatric rehabilitation and therapy services. Please fax your referral prescription to (720) 754-7757  or bring it with you to your first appointment. Our appointment scheduler is bilingual in Spanish and English, and language interpretation services are available in Spanish and over 100 other languages.

We accept most major insurance plans, including Medicaid and Colorado Access. Please check with your insurance carrier to confirm your coverage.

Appointments are available (without a waiting list) Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We offer free valet parking for your convenience.

Please call (720) 754-6760  to schedule an appointment.