SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A longtime Lehigh Valley orthopedic practice is re-entering the field of therapy services with its second recent expansion.
OAA Orthopaedic Specialists soon will open its second physical therapy location and first in the Lehigh Valley.
- OAA Orthopaedic Specialists will soon open its second physical therapy location
- The new location will be located in the Tilghman Square Shopping Center.
- OAA previously offered physical therapy services, but sold it to another company in 2014 due to proposed state regulations
The new location, called Physical Therapy & Hand Rehab at OAA, will be in Tilghman Square Shopping Center at 4652 Broadway in South Whitehall Township.
OAA’s flagship office is a block away from the new location, in the Integrated Health Campus at 250 Cetronia Road in Upper Macungie Township.
OAA Chief Executive Officer David Bittner said the OAA’s physicians will be in direct contact with the physical therapists, which he said will lead to better patient care.
“The relaunch of Physical Therapy & Hand Rehab at OAA is going to ensure that our patients know their entire care team, from physician to therapist, has their best interest at hand,” Bittner wrote in a news release.
OAA is the oldest private orthopedic practice in the area, dating to 1970, according to their website.
Relaunch of services
OAA used to have physical therapy services at each of its locations.
But in 2014, the state legislature was poised to pass a law preventing self-referral for private practices.
As a preventative measure to protect the practice from the proposed regulations, OAA Orthopaedic Specialists sold its therapy services, Bittner said in an interview.
Those regulations never became law, but OAA Orthopaedic Specialists still was in a non-compete agreement with the company that bought its services until 2021.
OAA added physical therapy services to its Lehighton location in August. Bitter said the new location will be more convenient for patients from Allentown and Bethlehem.
“We wanted to make sure that the services were available for our patients at all of our locations,” Bittner said.
Bittner said the new location likely will start taking patients in June.
