Enable Occupational Therapy:
Stevestonite Returns to Help Her Community Story by Sarah Gordon
Photos submitted
Occupational Therapist and Clinical Director Gina Fernandez is a pro at multitasking; she has been juggling her three Enable Occupational Therapy clinics during the pandemic while simultaneously being a new mother (her baby was born in mid-April). As a Registered Occupational Therapist, Gina performs home assessments, falls risk assessments, cognitive assessments, wheelchair assessments, and prescribes exercises and creates treatment programs for all members of the community. She has worked in both the public and private sectors with adults and children. Gina worked in a rural child development centre in Squamish, as well as various acute care settings throughout the Fraser Health Authority, and with the Early Supported Discharge Team at Richmond Hospital providing education and rehabilitation to adults with strokes and brain injuries. Gina founded Enable OT in 2014 after leaving her position at the Palliative Care and Oncology units at Abbotsford Regional Hospital. Her position as Palliative Care and Oncology OT was to be eliminated and she was informed 26
she would be working on a regular hospital unit instead. Aware of gaps in the public health care system, Gina decided to open a private rehabilitation company to provide services to individuals on waitlists and to assist people who received limited services publicly including children, and adults with strokes, brain injuries or Parkinson’s disease.
Her goal was to provide treatment to adults and children in the community in a unique and innovative manner outside of the clinic walls which includes kayaking, soccer, rock climbing, dance, and much more.
StevestonInsider.com
August - September 2020
