Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System - 7

7
Point comes in-to complement the
complex advanced neurological care
offered by
Community Healthcare System
at Community Hospital's
Comprehensive Stroke Center and
St. Catherine Hospital and
St. Mary Medical Center's Primary
Stroke Centers.
The new specialty hospital
extends the inpatient rehabilitation care and therapies offered in
Munster, East Chicago and Hobart
by providing highly skilled, trained
therapy professionals and advanced
state-of-the-art technologies
and equipment.
"Each of our hospitals is accredited and serves as a starting point
for stroke patients," says Craig
Bolda, administrator of the
Community Stroke &
Rehabilitation Center. "Studies
suggest that for many post-stroke
patients, intensive inpatient rehabilitation treatment at an inpatient
rehabilitation facility may be the
best choice, resulting in enhanced
functional outcomes with a shorter
length of stay and higher discharge
rates. This same high standard of
care also applies to patients recovering from neurological conditions and
joint replacements, and others who
need care in a rehabilitative setting."

Individualized
Expertise

To best meet the needs of each
patient, an individualized care plan
is created based on an evaluation
upon admission. The care plan
is used depending on whether
the patient is a stroke patient, an
amputee, had a spinal cord or brain
injury, or is suffering from other
neurological conditions.
Once a week, each patient's care
team of doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists,
speech therapists and social workers
meet to discuss the plan of care and
next steps. The patient and his or
her family are invited to attend.
"We encourage family members
to become involved; it gives the

The Biodex system takes
some weight off of the
patient while the therapist
manually moves the lower
extremities so the patient
can practice walking.

patient a lot of support,"
Melko says. "We understand that a lot of the
family members work,
but we discuss that in
advance with their social
worker before we set
the schedule. That way
they can be part of family training, get weekly
progress updates and
be involved as much
as possible."
Therapists have specialized training with
advanced certification.
Registered occupational
therapists and speech
therapists are required
to have a master's degree
with 36 hours of continuing education credits. At the rehabilitation
center, an additional
six hours of training is
required per year.
"The name of our
specialty hospital is
Community Stroke &
Rehabilitation," says
Toni Michalski, clinical
coordinator. "I think
that demonstrates we
are a dedicated center
and continue to educate
ourselves to ensure that
we are up to date in the
latest therapies, technologies and techniques in
the care of stroke and
patients with other neurological conditions."
"Our goal is for our
patients to get back to
where they were before
they were sick or injured
so that they can go home
and live as independently
as possible," she says.
"Besides an excellent

nursing staff, we are able to offer
more intense physical, occupational
and speech therapies with advanced
technologies to enhance the care we
provide to our patients."
"Our goal is for
our patients
to get back to
where they were
before they were
sick or injured so
that they can go
home and live as
independently as
possible."
Toni Michalski,
clinical
coordinator

Therapy to
Regain Skills

During an initial evaluation, the
therapist will have the patient go
through a number of activities
to get a baseline measurement of
their abilities.
Each patient is required to get at
least 180 minutes of therapy per day.
On average, a patient has four therapy sessions per day, two physical
therapy and two occupational therapy. Speech therapy is ordered if the
patient's doctor prescribes it because
the patient has issues swallowing or
with cognition or voice.
"Our patients need to be able to
tolerate a minimum of three hours
of therapy per day," says Joshua
VIM & VIGOR SPRING 2020
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2020 - Community Healthcare System

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