01
Physical therapy six days a week
Walking, balance and strength work in a gym with parallel bars, a practice stair and a full kitchen.
Medicare Part A
Chapter 01 — North edge of town, off the Talimena Drive turnoff, Talihina, OK
Skilled nursing & rehab · Talihina, Oklahoma
Nursing care with the mountains out every window.
Ninety-four beds, a therapy gym that sends people home, and a staff that mostly grew up within twenty miles of the front door.
Chapter one
We've been on Pine Ridge Road since 1972.
Kiamichi Valley opened the year the Talimena Drive was still being argued about in the legislature. It started with forty beds and a cook who made cornbread every day whether anybody asked for it or not. The cornbread is still here. The building has grown to ninety-four beds, a rehab wing and a sunporch facing Winding Stair Mountain.
Our nurses and aides are from Talihina, Clayton, Heavener and Wilburton. Many of them have taken care of a teacher, a neighbor or a grandparent here. That isn't a slogan. It's just what happens in a place this size, and it's why families tell us their mother is known here, not just looked after.
— Darla Wesley, administrator
What sets us apart
Where we shine
02
Home-safety visit before discharge
A therapist walks through your house with you to plan grab bars, ramps and rugs.
Included
03
Long-term nursing care
Our business office helps families with the SoonerCare long-term care application.
Medicaid accepted- 1972caring for the valley
- 94licensed beds
- 6days a week of therapy
- 24/7licensed nurses on every hall
Rooms & suites
Where you'll stay
Every room has a window, a call light within reach, and space for the quilt from home.
01
Private room
Our quietest rooms, at the ends of the halls, with a wide window and room for a favorite chair.
- Private half bath
- Window toward the mountains
- Bring your own quilt and photos
02
Semi-private room
Shared with one roommate, with a privacy curtain, two closets and two windows.
- Shared bath
- Separate closets and TVs
- Medicaid accepted
03
Short-stay rehab room
Close to the therapy gym, with a higher bed, a bedside commode chair and a phone for checking in with home.
- Steps from the gym
- Most stays two to four weeks
- Medicare Part A after a qualifying stay
Photo tour
Days in the valley
Our team
The people on Pine Ridge Road
Darla Wesley
Administrator
Darla grew up in Clayton, started here as a dietary aide in 1994 and became administrator in 2012. She still eats lunch in the dining room most days.
Rhonda Pickens, RN
Director of Nursing
Twenty-two years as a nurse, the last nine running our halls. Rhonda knows every resident's baseline and notices when something is off.
Dr. Elias Thornton, DO
Medical Director
A family physician who has practiced in Le Flore and Latimer counties for thirty years. He rounds here every week and answers the phone after hours.
Marisol Ruiz, PT, DPT
Therapy Director
Marisol built our rehab wing's practice kitchen and stair. Her measure of success is simple: how many people walk out the front door.
Kendall James, LMSW
Social Worker
Kendall handles the paperwork nobody wants to face alone: Medicaid applications, advance directives and discharge plans.
Sample family reviews
What families say
Daddy came here after his hip surgery thinking he'd never leave. Marisol had him on the practice stairs by week two. Five weeks later he walked to my car on his own.
The aide who bathes my mother went to school with my little brother. Mom is not a chart number here, and I can sleep at night because of it.
Kendall sat with us at the kitchen table and walked us through the Medicaid application line by line. I'd been dreading it for months.
I've had worse food at weddings. The cornbread alone is worth the drive from Wilburton.
When my wife was dying, they moved a recliner into her room so I could stay the night, and somebody brought me breakfast every morning without asking.
They call me when anything changes, even small things. After two years I've never once found out something on my own.
For families
For families
The first week is the hardest. Here's what helps.
- 01
Care-plan meetings
Within two weeks of admission, and every quarter after, you'll sit down with nursing, therapy, dietary and social work. Call in if you can't drive over.
- 02
One number to call
Every resident has a lead nurse by name. Ask for her first; she knows the latest.
- 03
Paying for care
Kendall explains Medicare, SoonerCare, VA and long-term care insurance in plain language, and helps with applications.
- 04
Bring the grandkids
Children are always welcome. The sunporch has a box of toys and the dining room has a bottomless cookie jar.
Ratings & recognition · sample
- Sample: Five-star family satisfaction survey, 2025
- Sample: Regional rehab outcomes recognition
- Sample: 50 years serving Le Flore County
Work close to home
Nurses, aides and cooks who'd rather drive five miles than fifty. Ask about our CNA training class and shift differentials.
Visit
Come see us in Talihina
- 1408 Pine Ridge Road
Talihina, OK
Park anywhere in the front lot. The covered drop-off at the main doors fits a van with a wheelchair lift. - (918) 555-0147
- Text us
- admissions@kiamichivalley.example
- KiamichiValleyNursing
Tour & office hours
- Tours, Mon – Sat9a – 5p
- Admissions, Mon – Fri8a – 5p
- Admissions by phone7 days
- Families visitAny time
Come up the road and sit a while.
Call admissions any day of the week, or book a tour online. The coffee is on and the cornbread usually is too.