The Fern Creek Medical Center may once again be on the brink of reopening, according to Nurse Practitioner Natalya Ptashinsky. Ptashinsky attempted to reopen in 2022 after Dr. Bryn Henderson pulled his Regenerative Medical Group practice out in November 2021. Henderson had engaged in a rapid expansion; opening several clinics around the country in 2020, and just as rapidly shut down two of the locations, including Idyllwild.

At that time, Ptashinsky told the Crier about relocating to Idyllwild and buying a home in Pine Cove, with the expectation that she would have long-term employment. She and her husband, John McCully, tried to reopen the clinic, and had even found a local supervising physician to oversee the practice, but that deal fell through.

This week, Ptashinsky told the Crier that a new supervising physician, “a very cooperative ER doc,” has been located, and a Small Business Administration loan approved. She added that the reopening will be in “perhaps three months.”

In 2018, Henderson was one of several defendants in lawsuits brought by the Federal Trade Commission against health care providers for their “labeling, advertising, marketing, distribution, and sale of stem cell therapy to treat, cure, and mitigate various diseases and health conditions.” Henderson’s judgment was the only one that included monetary damages, $3.3 million, which were suspended after his group paid $525,000 into a fund to compensate patients.