Acute Rehabilitation Unit

The Acute Rehab Unit (ARU) is designed to provide intensive rehabilitation therapy in a resource intensive inpatient hospital environment for patients who due to the complexity of their nursing, medical management, and rehabilitation needs, require and can reasonably be expected to benefit from an inpatient stay and an interdisciplinary team approach to the delivery of rehabilitation care. The following parameters not only apply to the medical rehabilitation program, but also to the Stroke Specialty Program.

The majority of patients admitted to the ARU have experienced a stroke, traumatic brain injury, amputations, multiple traumas, spinal cord injury or other neurological conditions. Before admission to the ARU, these patients have usually received inpatient care. Patients are admitted to the ARU when they are stable and are ready to work on functional issues arising from their injury or disease. Such functional issues might include walking or other mobility problems; caring for oneself, as far as hygiene, dressing, and/or feeding; swallowing and communicating.

The primary goal for the patient's admission to the ARU is to allow sufficient functional improvements to occur in order to permit safe discharge to the most appropriate setting after the patient's stay.

Before the Acute Rehab Unit opened in 2000, patients from the region who need intensive rehabilitation services had to travel out of town to access such services. With the addition of the ARU, Regional West Medical Center has bridged the gap in the continuum of care from the time the patients first enter the hospital system to the time they leave. The ARU staff is committed to providing the best care to a wide range of rehabilitation patients. Continuing staff education and development are supported and encouraged.

The acute rehab unit includes 18 beds, 16 of which are in private rooms. In addition, the unit includes a transitional apartment, which serves as a place where patients prepare for discharge by practicing the skills they have learned prior to actually having to do them at home. Most therapies occur in the unit itself, although ARU patients also have access to the therapy pool in the outpatient RehabCenter.

Therapeutic community outings are encouraged to practice and support further improvements in functional deficits. Home safety evaluations prior to discharge are also available to appropriate patients living in the area. Family involvement and training are considered an integral part of the rehabilitation process and discharge planning.

The Acute Rehab Unit at Regional West Medical Center is accredited by both the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and by the Joint Commission. The ARU has also received special accreditation from CARF as a Stroke Specialty Program.