
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993                   TAG: 9312040063
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

VIRGINIA PROSTHETICS PLANS CLINIC EXPANSION

Virginia Prosthetics Inc., a Roanoke company that designs and manufactures artificial limbs, said Friday it will double the size of its Williamson Road headquarters clinic in order to expand and speed up its customer service.

Excavation is to begin next week on the foundation for a 2,100-square-foot addition, said President J. Douglas Call.

The expansion, which was designed and will be built by Building Specialists Inc. of Roanoke, will incorporate new exam and fitting rooms and an enlarged laboratory area. The company did not say what the expansion will cost.

Virginia Prosthetics uses advanced technology, including myo-electric prosthetic devices for upper extremity applications, Call said. The company custom designs, fits and fabricates its products at the Roanoke clinic.

Part of the need for the expansion comes from plans to add a computer-assisted design system, Call said.

The construction will improve access for the handicapped. It will include a video and continuing education library for employees.

The clinic has a staff of seven but will add more employees after the expansion.

The company has been doing business at the same location, about a block south of the Hershberger-Williamson roads intersection, since 1966. It is thought to be the oldest prosthetic and orthotic clinic in Western Virginia.

by CNB