EAST BERNE — Albany County Physical Therapy and Respite Services, based in East Berne, will bring services to area residents’ homes.

Karin Kuck moved to the United States 25 years ago to work as a physical therapist since there was no work in her native Netherlands, she said.  After working at a cerebral palsy center in Albany, running her own private practice, and working at other area practices over the last three decades, Kuck has now started a business providing both physical therapy and respite care in people’s homes.  She is CPR certified and speaks Dutch, English, and German.

“I just like working with people,” she said of why she chose to work in physical therapy.  She had considered being a dentist, but “figured people don’t like going to the dentist” and she’d only see patients once or twice a year.  In physical therapy, she sees patients improve over a period of time.

“I like to teach people to take care of themselves,” she said.

Some people who require the service have trouble leaving their homes, she said, so coming to them makes it easier.  Also, some patients need more physical therapy than their insurance will pay for or they might have high co-pays.  She charges $35 an hour for physical therapy and $20 an hour for respite care and will travel to the Hilltowns, Guilderland, Delmar, Voorheesville, and Altamont.