To the editor:

The recent front-page spread regarding the expansion of a local orthopedic surgery clinic, including a physical therapy department, had me shaking my head. A much wiser use of limited health care dollars would be to expand programs which prevent the conditions which result in knee and hip replacements, rather than “enabling” people to neglect physical activity in the belief that replacement knees and hips will be readily available to them.

A quick scan of the yellow pages indicates there are already a dozen physical therapy businesses in town. Is another needed? Physicians, if you really have the best interests of your patients at heart, expand programs which encourage healthy lifestyles rather than duplicating services already available which treat the results of an unhealthy lifestyle.