Staff

Dirk Baird, PT

Dirk grew up in Provo, Utah where attended BYU and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education. He and his family then moved to Omaha, NE where he graduated with his Doctorate Degree from Creighton University in 1998. He then moved to CDA where he began his career in PT. He has been the owner of Hayden Lake Physical Therapy & Aquatics since 2000. He has been treating community members in Kootenai County since 1998 and loves meeting new people and assisting them in their road to recovery. He loves his work family, church family, and his home family consisting of Kathy, his wife, and their 6 children and 6 grandchildren.

Diana Smith, PT

Bio Coming Soon..

Baily Donovan, PT

Baily joined the team at Hayden Lake Physical Therapy in 2022. She has lived and worked most of her life in the Pacific Northwest. She was raised in the small town of Wilbur, WA and attended the University of Montana for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. There she received a Bachelors of Arts and Science in Human Biology (2007) and a Doctorate of Physical Therapy (2010).

Following school, Baily moved to the Coeur D’Alene area and has had experience working in a variety of settings. She enjoys working in the Outpatient setting and helping patients reach their functional goals. She has special interest in working with orthopedic, neurological, and sports related injuries. She is certified in Vestibular Rehabilitation and continues to pursue specialized education in working with those who have Vestibular Dysfunctions.

Baily lives with her husband and two children. During their free time they enjoy cheering on local High School sports teams, shooting hoops in the backyard, running and traveling.

Stefanie Cove, PT

Bio Coming Soon..

Brenda Jerald, PT

Brenda attended Carroll College in Helena, Montana where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Health and Physical Education with areas of focus in community health, sport management, and business administration in 2007. She then attended Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in Rochester, Minnesota where she obtained her doctor of physical therapy degree in 2011.

Brenda started working at Hayden Lake Physical Therapy and Aquatics in 2011. She worked as the Lead Physical Therapist at the Coeur d’Alene location from 2012 to 2019. At that time, she returned to the Hayden location as a staff therapist, and is now the Center Coordinator of Clinical Education (CCCE) for the clinics.

Working in a clinic that brings a variety of patients where she can personalize her treatments to each patient, effectively using manual therapies for hands-on treatments, and giving hope and motivation to all patients to better themselves is her joy in her work. With this focus she is currently working toward her Therapeutic Pain Specialist certification. Some of her favorite techniques include muscle energy, taping, and myofascial release as adjuncts for the exercises her patients perform.

Born and raised as a fourth generation North Idaho native, Brenda grew up enjoying hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, dancing, basketball, and swimming. When not working with her patients, Brenda enjoys spending time with her husband and children, relaxing at home with their dogs and cats, and volunteering through her church.

Collin Zimmerman, PT

Collin obtained his bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2014 at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. He then went on to earn his Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2018 also at the University of Mary. Collin began working at Hayden Lake early in 2022. Collin specializes in Postural Restoration therapy. He has taken courses through the Postural Restoration institute and gained understanding of body mechanics and common pathological patterns. Collin enjoys treating patients who are motivated. He enjoys treating athletes, people who have complex low back issues, and does well working with most all orthopedic issues. Collin is married and has two children. He has one son and one daughter. He enjoys spending time with his family and doing outdoor activities. He especially enjoys hunting, fishing, wakeboarding, and being in nature in general.

Jim Behrens, PT

Jim grew up in Arizona and attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. He earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Idaho State University in Pocatello. He enjoys helping patients of all ages, but especially likes working with young athletes and other patients who are highly motivated to work hard in therapy to reach their goals. He believes that it is important to continue to learn and grow as a therapist and is always striving to expand his repertoire of skills. He is certified in dry needling, ASTYM technique, and has attended continuing education courses on the treatment of vestibular and concussion disorders. He is currently working on becoming certified in Postural Restoration Institute based treatment. In his free time Jim enjoys big game hunting, golfing, snowboarding, exercising, and watching sports.

Jamie Sutlick, PT

Jamie received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Eastern Washington University in 2022. After graduation, she worked at St. Luke's in Spokane in the neurological department getting further education in vestibular and concussion rehabilitation and with a variety of neurological diagnoses and impairments. Having taken some time to discover her real passion is working with people, before being a Physical Therapist she worked several years as a civil engineer having gotten her undergraduate at Gonzaga University in Civil Engineering in 2014.

Jamie grew up in north Spokane area where she still has family. In her free time she is an avid hiker, backpacker and world traveler with her husband Tony. She started mountain biking about 10 years ago and enjoys skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Her passion is anything to get moving outside with friends and family

Blane Petersen, PTA

Bio Coming Soon..

Donna Sferra, PTA

Donna was born in Santa Monica, California and attended high school in Culver City where she enjoyed the competitive sports of tennis and softball. She attended college at California State University, Northridge and received her Bachelor’s degree in Health Education. She worked at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for three years in the Physical Therapy Rehab department as a therapy tech and decided to return to school to pursue a career in Physical Therapy. She earned her Physical Therapy Assistant degree from Mount Saint Mary’s College in 1996 and has been practicing now for twenty seven years.

Donna and her husband Eric enjoy tending a summer garden and caring for a small flock of chickens, feeling blessed for the bounty it brings. They also enjoy hiking, biking and kayaking throughout beautiful North Idaho where they have called their home for 28 years. She has worked for Hayden Lake Physical therapy for 25 years and feels grateful to have had the opportunity to meet so many members of this wonderful community.

Deanna Elmer, PTA

I graduated from the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Spokane Falls Community College in 2014. I have been working at Hayden Lake PT and Aquatic for the past 10 years. I have the privilege of working with the best team of people to give the best quality of care in the Coeur d alene area. I truly love partnering with clients and patients to reach their goals and support their journey back to health and the activities they love! I particularly enjoy working with Post Concussion Syndrome, Whiplash Associated Disorder and Vestibular disorders.

When I am not working, I enjoy being outdoors kayaking, hiking,boating and snowshoeing

Monica Earp, PTA

Monica grew up in Lake Tapps, Washington and moved to Coeur d’Alene in 2015. Shortly after moving here she decided to return to school and pursue a fulfilling career where she could help people. She graduated from North Idaho College as a Physical Therapist Assistant with an Associates Degree in 2019. She began working at HLPT in 2016 as a therapy tech and front desk receptionist, while she was attending NIC. Once she graduated from NIC she was hired on as a full time PTA here. She furthered her education in 2022 by becoming an ASTYM certified provider where she helps patients regenerate soft tissues and remove unwanted scar tissue that may contribute to pain or movement dysfunctions.

Monica shares her love of travel, fishing and hunting with her husband, Greg. Her favorite time of the year is summer, when she gets to spend time in the sun camping, boating, fishing and paddle boarding. She hopes to travel to many tropical places where she gets to go scuba diving and swim with turtles.

Jessica Brusell, PTA

Jessica grew up in Hayden, ID and completed all of her schooling locally. What she appreciates most about working at HLPT is the collaborative working environment. With a large team, there’s so much experience to draw from. All staff members are committed to educating each patient on how to move and live in a safe and pain-free way. There is a great emphasis placed on continuing to learn new techniques and creative ways to achieve individualized patient goals.

Mindy Flerchinger, PTA

Bio Coming Soon..

Janice Wright, PTA

Janice attended North Idaho College for her Associate of Applied Science degree and graduated from their PT Assistant program in January of 2017.

She started working at Hayden Lake Physical Therapy and Aquatics in October of 2019. She enjoys working with all patients, but especially those with total knee replacements, total hip replacements, low back pain, and anyone needing aquatic therapy.

Janice has lived in the Northwest for most of her life. She iis the mother of three adult children, and grandmother of two.

She loves spending time with family and friends, swimming, biking, being creative, gardening, cooking, reading, and road trips!

Krystal Webster, PTA

Bio Coming Soon..