Popular Northern Minnesota Facility Now Being Acquired By Essentia Health

Access to good local care is one of those things you don't think much about until you need it.

In smaller Minnesota communities, keeping trusted providers close to home matters, and in Cloquet, one of the area's most familiar names in physical therapy is about to get a lot easier to reach for more patients.

Essentia Health has announced it will purchase Park Avenue Therapies, a longtime pillar of the Cloquet community, and will begin to transition the building to provide care under a new name this fall.

Essentia Health Announces New Essentia Health-Cloquet Therapy

The practice will be renamed Essentia Health-Cloquet Therapy, with the transition expected to be complete and the doors open under the new name on October 1.

According to the announcement, Park Avenue founder and owner Rhonda Johnson approached Essentia earlier this year to gauge interest in acquiring the practice. Both parties signed a purchase agreement in early July, and Johnson's team of physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, athletic trainers and support staff will become Essentia employees.

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"As a physical therapist myself and owner of this practice for 35 years, I am happy I will also continue working until my retirement in the coming years," Johnson said. "We recognize it is a privilege to be trusted with the care of others."

A few things are staying put. The Park Avenue Fitness Center will remain independent and is not part of the purchase, and the therapy practice will stay at its current home at 1204 Cloquet Avenue.

What's new is an expansion of services: in addition to physical therapy, occupational therapy will now be offered at Essentia Health-Cloquet Therapy.

The move builds on a growing local footprint. Essentia has served the community since opening the Essentia Health-Cloquet Clinic in 2022, and that clinic at 1413 Hwy 33 — home to a seven-days-a-week urgent care — has proven popular enough to warrant a major expansion.

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A project doubling the size of the building is set to open to the public in August, adding a retail pharmacy with a drive-through, plus additional parking.

For Essentia, the acquisition is about keeping care personal as it grows. "We couldn't be more proud to partner with Park Avenue on the therapy offerings available for the patients we're honored to serve in this community," said Katherine Brunette, rehabilitation services director at Essentia.

For patients across the Duluth area and greater Minnesota, the bottom line is more therapy services closer to home — with the same familiar faces behind them.