Steve joined the OCCVA team in 2007 as the Director of Therapy. Steve is physical therapist and certified athletic trainer.   He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1996 and received his physical therapy education at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University.  Prior to joining the staff here, he worked in Richmond, VA at Chippenham Sports Medicine clinic and assisted with rehabilitation of student-athletes at the University of Richmond athletic training room. 

He subsequently joined the athletic training staff at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.  He worked on a day to day basis as an assistant athletic trainer with Men’s Soccer.  He also served as the rehabilitation coordinator for all the varsity student-athletes at Wake Forest.  While working with the Men’s Soccer team, they won 2 regular season ACC championships, had two appearances in the College Cup, and won a National Championship.  He maintains a close relationship working with the Men’s Soccer program as a consultant. 

Steve’s sports medicine experience includes working with the US Men’s Indoor Field Hockey team.  He provided coverage for that team at the Pan Am Games and the World Cup in Leipzig, Germany during the course of 2002-2003.  Steve also served as the athletic trainer for the football team at Blessed Sacrament Huguenot in the Richmond area for 3 seasons.

Steve enjoys working with athletes, active individuals, post operative patients, and patients with SI joint dysfunctions.   In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors, exercising, and spending time with his two boys,  Zachary and Christopher. 

I graduated from Ohio University Physical Therapy School in 1987.  I moved to Lynchburg and began working at Virginia Baptist Hospital. I have had out-patient practice experience since leaving there in 1991.  Completing a 4-year certification in the Feldenkrais Method has enhanced my ability to treat pain syndromes and biomechanical dysfunction.  I had my own practice for 6 years prior to coming to Piedmont Orthopedic Surgery/OCCVA.  I truly love this practice setting and feel that we offer high quality care which is very important to me professionally.

Serena was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Massachusetts.  She received her B.S. degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando in Liberal Studies with a focus in sports medicine and completed her Physical Therapy degree in Miami at Florida International University. 

She has worked in a variety of settings since 1994 including:     Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Rehabilitation facilities, Home Care and outpatient.

She also has extensive training in the treatment of wounds and is a Certified Wound Care Specialist.

She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Her interests are spending time with her husband, exercising, swimming, weight training, and entertaining guests.

Born and raised in Wisconsin on a dairy farm, I attended the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy in 1989. After gaining experience in the areas of acute care, acute rehabilitation, orthopedic outpatient, and home health at a hospital in Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to become a traveling therapist.  For a period of time I traveled to different facilities where I filled short-term staffing needs in several states.  That time in my career led me to discover beautiful and historic Virginia and eventually Lynchburg.  I also met my husband here so I was glad to settle in the area and began working at Centra Health in 1994.
 In October 2005 I had the opportunity to join the OCCV staff on a part-time basis. 

I am a licensed and registered occupational therapist in the state of Virginia specializing in hand therapy. I obtained my undergraduate degree at Northwestern College in Iowa, and received my graduate degree from University of Indianapolis in Indiana in 1996. I completed hand internships at the Indiana Hand center in Indianapolis, where I also completed extensive post graduate education in upper extremity rehabilitation. I treat hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries and conditions. My training in industrial rehabilitation has helped me tremendously in the treatment of injured workers. My objective as a therapist is to understand each patient’s individual rehabilitation goals and then provide excellent treatment to facilitate meeting those goals.  My passion for the care of people motivated me to become a therapist.  That same passion has made my practice here in Lynchburg most rewarding.

Janine Thomas received her certification in Hand Therapy from the Hand Therapy Certification Commission. She earned her BA in Occupational Therapy from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.

As a specialist in elbow, wrist and hand injuries, Janine works closely with our orthopaedic surgeons and their patients to design appropriate therapies to guide their recovery.