By John McCallum
Editor 

CHS alum Griffon Jones now at Apex

 

Last updated 7/14/2017 at 1:05pm

John McCallum

Cheney High School alumnus Griffon Jones has joined Apex's Cheney office as a physical therapist.

One of Cheney's favorite sons is back in town, and ready to help with you physical therapy needs.

Griffon Jones has come on board at Apex as a physical therapist. Jones is a 2008 graduate of Cheney High School, helping lead the Blackhawks boys basketball team to its last 2A state tournament appearance that year.

"It is definitely good to be back in Washington, back home," he said.

Jones' ability on the hardwood first took him to Spokane Community College for two years and then to Dixie State University in St. George, Utah, where he graduated in 2012. After working around the area for a bit, including about 10 months at Apex's North Spokane office, Jones said he took a year of physical therapy pre-requisites at Eastern Washington University before accepting an enrollment offer in the physical therapy program at the School of Health Sciences at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. in 2014.


Jones received his doctorate of physical therapy (DPT), one of three doctorate programs offered at UM, this spring. He said he had kept in touch with Apex since working there, and was offered the Cheney position in May.

"We definitely learned a lot," Jones said of his three years in North Dakota.

Besides extensive study in body mechanics, Jones said he received instruction in the cardiovascular and nervous systems along with pharmacology. The latter plays an important part in setting up therapy parameters for patients who have undergone surgery and are on pain medications since some therapies may work best when their pain is minimal.

Prior to graduation, Jones said he did internships at physical therapy units in Colorado and Utah, and took his board certification's while in Utah. He is also licensed and board certified in Washington.


While he is currently a general practitioner, Jones said he would like to move into sports or orthopedic medicine in the future. The aspect of physical therapy he finds most interesting is it's uniqueness.

"No two bodies are ever the same," he said.

For Jones, the challenge in this is problem solving. Patients may have the same issues, but respond differently to treatment. Developing a therapy regime that effectively treats patients needs, including providing exercises they can do at home that fit within their schedule and their experience levels is what Jones looks forward to providing.

"How can I help this person get back to normal, get back to their prior level of function?" Jones said. "Just building those good habits."

John McCallum can be reached at jmax@cheneyfreepress.com.

Author Bio

John McCallum, Retired editor

John McCallum is an award-winning journalist who retired from Cheney Free Press after more than 20 years. He received 10 Washington Newspaper Publisher Association awards for journalism and photography, including first place awards for Best Investigative, Best News and back-to-back awards in Best Breaking News categories.

 

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