Kalina Pain Institute, a solo medical practitioner, has been given the needed approval to expand its space at 334 Circle Ave.
At the Feb. 24 Forest Park Village Council meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a conditional use permit that allows for the 650-square-foot medical office to almost double its size.
Late last month, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the village council approve a conditional use permit for Kalina Pain Institute. Dr. Jared Kalina and Linda Lee, his wife and office manager, need that permit before expanding because the property doesn’t currently conform to residential zoning codes in that area.
Kalina Pain Institute offers comprehensive care for pain – including trigger point injections and Botox — plus minimally invasive spine care.
Injections around the spine, nearly 80% of Kalina’s injections, require X-rays. Because Kalina Pain Institute lacks appropriate equipment, Dr. Kalina schedules patients that require X-rays at Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Center in Galewood once a week.
Kalina and Lee intend to extend their office by about 580 square feet into the lot’s backyard. The new space would include a second bathroom and surgical suite, where Kalina can perform injections himself.
“I would love it,” Kalina previously told the Review, “but the patients would love it, to do the procedure the same day,” rather than scheduling them on Wednesdays at Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Center.
“The way it’s laid out right now makes examinations and procedures rather difficult,” said Department of Public Health and Safety Director Steve Glinke at the Feb. 24 meeting. Glinke is also a patient at Kalina Pain Institute.
Kalina said the approved extension shouldn’t impact the number of cars parking in the area.
“I won’t have a bunch more patients coming, and there won’t be a lot more traffic,” Kalina said at the January PZC meeting. “It’s just to create space within the building for the patients.”
“It’s simply a way to provide a property owner with the ability to modify the building and improve the building,” Glinke said.
