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Functional Capacity Evaluations

Appling Healthcare’s skilled therapists perform Functional Capacity Evaluations to assess your physical ability relating to your employment, disability status, volunteering, or more. 

Functional Capacity Evaluations, or FCEs, conducted by Bencura’s highly trained and educated therapists at Appling Healthcare in Baxley, Georgia, provide physicians, employers, and individuals with timely, competent evaluations close to home.

An FCE is comprised of dynamic work tasks such as lifting, pulling, pushing, carrying, bending, climbing, reaching, and may include positional tolerance, including sitting, standing, walking, reaching, kneeling, crouching, crawling, or grasping.

Cognitive assessment can also be included to provide added analysis of thinking skills and its effect on work performance. Our FCEs are administered with care for the patient’s safety and well-being.

Who may benefit from Functional Capacity Evaluations?

  • Someone who has an on-the-job injury and requires an evaluation to determine his or her ability to return to work
  • Someone applying for Social Security Disability benefits
  • Someone seeking to return to work or volunteer activities after an injury or illness
  • Someone injured in a catastrophic accident for whom an FCE can determine performance skills and abilities related to resuming former employment or a new job
  • Someone seeking vocational rehabilitation services
  • Students receiving transitional services from school to the work setting to determine their skills and the extent of support required to perform in a job

Who performs Functional Capacity Evaluations?

An Occupational Therapist brings unique knowledge and skills related to the complex and dynamic interactions between the person, the body, the environment and the occupation. The ability to analyze an activity in detail to determine the necessary components to perform the task competently is a unique core skill of occupational therapists, based on their advanced education and training.

Functional Capacity Evaluations typically require the evaluator to determine the worker's capability to perform various work-related tasks and whether there is a match between these abilities and the essential job performance components. Appling Healthcare's rehabilitation partner, Bencura, has invested in specialized training for their Occupational Therapists, who also have advanced degrees.

Functional Capacity Evaluations may also be used to determine:

  • Goals for rehabilitation or readiness for discharge planning
  • Ability to safely return to work status (including full duty, modified duty or transitional duty)
  • Work ability status for vocational rehabilitation
  • Workers' compensation case settlement
  • Disability status
  • Ability to meet job demands as part of a hiring process (pre-work/post-offer employment testing)
  • Ability to meet the demands of other activities (i.e. being a student, volunteering)

To schedule a Functional Capacity Evaluation diagnostic procedure, contact the Appling Healthcare Rehabilitation Department at 912-366-6590.

163 E. Tollison St Baxley, GA 31513
912-367-9841
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Doug Harris

Doug Harris is a native and lifelong resident of Appling County, where he graduated from Appling County High School. He graduated from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama, in 1978, with a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Computer Science. He retired from Southern Nuclear, working at Plant Hatch for over thirty-six years in the Operations, Materials, and Training departments, having held a Reactor Operators License from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and later a Senior Reactor Operators Certification. His public service includes being a former Appling County School Board member, where he represented the Georgia School Board Association as a Federal Relations Network member. He has also served as an Appling County Board of Commissioners member. In the mid-nineties, Doug was instrumental in attracting and obtaining the Altamaha Technical and Education Center, currently known as Coastal Pines Technical College. He is actively involved in his church, having served in various roles over many years. He is married to Betsy Crummey Harris of Baxley and has four grown children, spouses, and eleven grandchildren.

Perry White

Perry White is the Vice President of Community Bank of Georgia.  He is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.  He is also a Blueberry and Pecan farmer. He is the President of the Georgia Blueberry Growers Association. He serves as a Deacon of First Baptist Church in Baxley.  He is married to Hayley White, and they have two children, Lane and Linley. 
 

Tekisha Jones

Tekisha Jones, a proud native of Appling County, is a devoted wife to Jakharis Jones and the loving mother of three children: Takhara, Aleah, and Khamil. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner from Walden University, where she developed a strong commitment to advancing healthcare in her community.
 
Currently, Tekisha serves with East Georgia Healthcare, where she provides compassionate, patient-centered care to individuals and families.

Madeline Rentz-Tucker

Madeline Rentz-Tucker, a native of Baxley, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia and a Juris Doctor from Mercer University. She has practiced law in various settings and now works with a long-standing local law firm. Madeline and her husband, Matthew Tucker, a native of Ocilla, enjoy life in Baxley with their two dogs.

Cam Mayers

Cam Mayers is a native of Appling County and a graduate of Georgia Southern University’s Parker College of Business. He has worked for various industries here in Southeast Georgia and is currently a lender with Pineland Bank. He is actively involved in the community, serving on the Appling County Festival Committee, and is a recent graduate of the Appling Leads Leadership Program. Cam and his wife, Hannah Carter Mayer,s have two young daughters, Lillian and Bess.

Sloan Lott

Sloan Lott is a lifelong resident of Baxley. He has been employed by Bland Farms for 28 years and is currently their Director of Sales. He is married to Kendra Lott, and they have two daughters, Isabella and Amelia. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Sloan currently serves on numerous industry and charitable boards. He is a member of the executive board of directors forthe  Southeast Produce Council and a member of the board for Society of St. Andrews.

Lee Lewis

Lee Lewis is the City Market Executive and Senior Vice-President for Pineland Bank in Baxley. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia from the Terry College of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. Lee is actively involved in his community, serving as Chairman of the Coastal Pines Technical College Board, Secretary of the Appling County Hospital Authority, Executive Board Member for the Coastal Georgia Council BSA, and Treasurer of the Appling County Tourism Board. In 2023, he was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Hospital Association. Lee is married to Melody Lewis, and they have one son, Hudson.

Jaymal R. Patel, MD

Geriatric Psychiatry / Hospitalist

163 E. Tollison Street
Baxley, GA 31513
(912) 367-9841

Primary Focus

Senior Care Unit (Behavioral Health)

Education & Training

Board Certified: General Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Board Certified: Geriatric Psychiatry, American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry,
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Medical School: Baroda Medical College and affiliated hospitals, Baroda, India
Internship: Baroda Medical College and affiliated hospitals, Baroda, India
Residency in Psychiatry: Medical College of Georgia and University of Pennsylvania
Fellowship: University of Pennsylvania,Geriatric Psychiatry Program

Melanie Young, APRN, FNP-C

Pediatrics

105 E. Tollison Street Suite D
Baxley, GA 31513
(912) 366-9688

Education & Training

Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner: Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
Bachelor of Science in Nursing: Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA

Affiliations/Certifications

-Family Nurse Practitioner
-Registered Nurse, Georgia
-Basic Cardiac Life Support
-Advanced Cardiac Life Support
-Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Life Support
-ONS Chemotherapy/Biotherapy Provider Course
-American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
-Sigma Theta Tau International

Orlando V. Fernando, MD

Internal Medicine

105 E. Tollison Street Suite B
Baxley, GA 31513
(912) 367-0102

Education & Training

Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
Residency: Memorial University/Mercer University Hospital, Savannah, GA
Internship: Memorial University/Mercer University Hospital, Savannah, GA

Affiliations

-Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine
-Certified, Medical Review Officer, Southern Nuclear Company
-Member, American College of Physicians
-Recognition with Commendation, American Medical Association

Matt Hodges, FNP-BC

Family Medicine

105 E. Tollison Street Suite B
Baxley, GA 31513
(912) 367-0102

Matt is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who treats patients two years and older. He is a certified BioTE® medical provider for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, including BioTE® hormone pellet therapy.

Key Services
-Chronic Disease Management
-Health Maintenance Screenings
-Acute Care
-Physical Exams
-Disease Prevention
-BioTE® Hormone Replacement Therapy
–Botox® injections
-BMI-based weight management program ($45, bi-monthly)

 

Education & Training

Master of Science in Nursing: South University, Savannah, GA (Family Nurse Practitioner)
Bachelor of Science in Nursing: Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA

Certifications/Memberships

-Family Nurse Practitioner
-Registered Nurse, Georgia
-Advanced Cardiac Life Support
-Basic Life Support (BLS)
-Chemotherapy & Biotherapy Provider
-Oncology Nursing Society
-Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing

Josefina Abendan-Dubberly, MD

Pediatrics

105 E. Tollison Street Suite D
Baxley, GA 31513
(912) 366-9688

Key Services

-Primary Care
-Well Checks
-Acute Care
-Physical Exams
-Disease Preventions
-Patient Education

Education & Training

Medical School: University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
Residency: Brookdale University Hospital, Brooklyn, New York

Affiliation

-American Board of Pediatrics