Performance Therapy opens in Cleveland, offers free initial screenings

Performance Therapy opened its Cleveland branch on Feb. 12 at 1321 Highway 8 West, Suite 4, and began taking patients immediately, giving local residents a new place to get rehab without leaving the city. The outpatient clinic is aimed at adults and children alike, with separate areas for adult and pediatric care and free initial screenings for anyone who wants to find out whether therapy is the right next step.

The Cleveland office is led by clinic director Ashley Christmas and pediatric director Ali Thompson Stockstill. It is owned by Dan Young, Scot Huffman, Spencer Shoemaker and Daniel Tackett, and the company describes the business as a branch rather than a franchise, a structure that gives the local team more flexibility while tying it to a broader Mississippi network that has been established since 2003.

For Cleveland residents, the practical draw is access. The clinic’s listed hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its service list stretches well beyond basic rehab to include dry needling, fall prevention, hand therapy, LSVT BIG for Parkinson’s, LSVT LOUD voice therapy, vestibular therapy, work and industry services, manual therapy, the McKenzie Method, occupational therapy, speech therapy and pediatrics. That mix puts student athletes, post-surgery patients, older adults and working people in the same local system instead of sending them to different providers in other towns.

Payment options also matter in a place where cost can slow people down before care even starts. Delta Business Journal reported that the Cleveland clinic accepts private pay, insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, and that it had seven employees when the business opened. The clinic’s emphasis on free screenings lowers the first hurdle for families who may be unsure whether a shoulder injury, balance problem, speech delay or lingering pain needs formal treatment.

Cleveland, the county seat of Bolivar County, had 11,199 residents at the 2020 census, a size that makes each health-care option matter more than it might in a larger city. Bolivar Medical Center also offers outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy, but it has noted that close-to-home rehab can spare patients long drives or overnight hotel stays. In a part of the Mississippi Delta where health access remains uneven and provider shortages continue to create barriers, another local therapy office adds choice, shorter trips and faster access to care.