MEET OUR THERAPISTS
Ogden/Farmington
Melissa Ita'aehau, DPT, CLT
Melissa graduated with a doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Utah in 2005 and she has been practicing at Wasatch Physical Therapy ever since. She has focused her therapy treatment on pelvic pain and incontinence issues as well as in the treatment of lymphedema. Melissa is passionate about helping her patients become their best selves and live their best lives possible.
She enjoys tennis, biking, playing volleyball, and being active. She is married and has 5 kids.
Ogden
Ernie Chaves, PT
Ernie graduated from the University of Utah and has been practicing physical therapy since 1994. He has received certifications in Ergonomic and Industrial Rehab, including; functional capacity evaluations (FCE's) and work hardening programs. Ernie specializes in orthopedic, back, and sport injuries. He stresses proper nutrition and exercise to help patients achieve their goals and get them “back to life.”
Ernie enjoys running, biking, and in his spare time, he likes to watch the Utes play.
Layton
Rusty Jenkins, DPT
Rusty was always active in sports and enjoyed learning about how the body and brain work together to help you live your best life. He decided to become a physical therapist so he could spend quality time with his patients and help them heal and recover from being in pain and get back to what they want to do. After graduating from the University of Utah in 2005, he has increased his learning in order to provide a lot of different treatment methods that can help his patients get better. He was the second physical therapist approved to dry needle in the state of Utah in 2014 and has over 12 years of dry needling experience! His goal is to have each patient understand that he will treat them as individuals and not as a diagnosis. “We are teammates in your recovery and healing.”
Farmington
Robert Drenning, PT, OCS, FAAOMPT
As an avid snowboarder, mountain biker, and runner, Rob became a physical therapist after having several injuries himself, and experiencing first-hand what it feels like to not be able to do the activities you love! He graduated with his degree in Physical Therapy from Boston University in 2005, and completed a prestigious Fellowship in Manual Physical Therapy through Regis University in 2018. In the clinic, Rob uses a highly individualized approach to get every person to leave with immediate pain relief. He believes it is important to also understand the root cause of the pain in order to get that relief to last! Rob specializes in treating the spine, and even has great success helping people who have failed with PT in the past. He focuses on hands-on treatments, dry needling, and functional strength training to help each person become an active participant in their own recovery and reach their goals!
Roy
Tyler Landgren, DPT
Tyler was born and raised in Utah. He got his undergraduate degree from Utah State University and then completed his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Utah in 2016. Tyler treats all orthopedic injuries including postoperative care, upper and lower extremity injuries and really enjoys treating the spine. He has additional training and certifications for treating concussions, vertigo, and the use of functional dry needling for orthopedic injuries.
In his spare time, he enjoys tennis, snowboarding and spending time with his wife and 2 daughters.
Layton
Robyn Judd, DPT
Robyn was born and raised in Cedar City UT. She earned her associates degree from Ricks College and a BS in Health Promotion and Education from the University of Utah. During undergraduate school she spent a lot of time in the hospital with her dad who had suffered a traumatic brain injury and watched him get his life back through the amazing rehabilitation process. She was hooked! She earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Utah. She started out treating orthopedic patients and soon found a love for treating the pelvis and core due to the impact these areas can have in changing people’s lives for the better. She wanted to learn more and is attending the Pelvic Floor series from Herman and Wallace and will soon be a certified Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise specialist through Sara Duvall.
Robyn loves spending time with her family and friends hiking, skiing, biking, golfing, boating and dirt biking or anything else outside in this beautiful area.
Ogden/Farmington
Alex Hanson, PTA
Alex is a Utah native. She received her bachelor’s in athletic therapy from Weber State. She then graduated from Provo College with her PTA degree in December 2020. Alex has enjoyed working with Women’s Health and Lymphedema patients. She loves seeing patients get back to what they love to do.
Alex enjoys spending time with her husband. Her hobbies include archery, snowboarding, soccer and going on walks with her dog. She played collegiate soccer at Utah State University Eastern.
Layton/Roy
Scott Smith, PTA
Scott was born and raised in the Ogden, UT area. He graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's degree in Human Performance Management with an emphasis in Wellness. He later on went back to Provo College to receive his Physical Therapist Assistant degree. He is certified in Blood Flow Restriction Training. Patient care is his highest priority, and he loves to make each patient's exercise plan unique to them. Scott loves to treat any orthopedic patient and tries to assist them getting back to life.
Scott’s hobbies are watching Seattle Mariner baseball games, running, golf and playing with his
4 kids.
Layton/Roy
Danielle Bush, PTA
Danielle graduated from Boise State University with her bachelors in Health Sciences in 2014 and a minor in Psychology. She graduated from Provo college with her Physical Therapist Assistants license in 2022. She was first introduced to the field of Physical Therapy when she was in college. She received some life advice from her god mother right after high school and was told to shadow as many places as she could before picking a field. Danielle fell in love with PT because it showed her that with the right education about body mechanics and muscle performance, people don't have to live a life with pain. She specializes in pelvic floor PT and has seen the benefits of preventing accidents, regaining sexual independence and living a life without pain! She strives to be an advocate for those who are feeling lost with their symptoms.
She recently got married to the love of her life after 10 years of being friends and is so excited to start a family in the future.