Finding Care for Inpatient Rehab

I should first mention that no organization can ever pay me to be featured in my blog or newsletter, nor can they give me any kind of incentive.  I mention people and companies because I think they deserve the mention, and that's the only criteria, period.

Having a loved one experience health concerns is always troubling, and it doesn't help that the choices for assistance are so varied and overwhelming.  How do you know who will do a good job, and which facilities should be avoided?  In general, we have to trust the medical professionals that are supposed to know who's good and who's not for your local area.

Based on such a recommendation from the wonderful staff at University Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, my wife and I recently accepted, on my mother's behalf, the services of an organization called Advanced Health Care.  They have many facilities around the U.S., and two in Colorado.

My mother had an injury that occurred several months ago, but was never diagnosed.  It was suddenly made much worse about a month ago, when she was staying at our house to recuperate from an unrelated hospital stay.  She's 84 as of this writing, and those of you who are in a similar position will understand that when it comes to pain management, there's nothing worse than seeing someone in horrible pain that you can do nothing about.  And with no time to spare, it's also difficult to find someone who's trustworthy, as you don't have much time to research, and if you had researched previously, many of those providers are no longer available!  Add to that the fact that there are many types of services, and you don't know which will need to be utilized at any given time, and you can get quickly overwhelmed.

After a stay to diagnose, University decided that she needed inpatient rehab, and suggested Advanced Health Care, who, as stated above, actually have many facilities around the nation.  Although I can't be certain about the rest of their facilities, it seems quite probable that they're all of the same same high quality as their Aurora location.  They specialize in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, and short-term nursing.  All of their patients anticipate being able to leave, to a specific situation.

My mother was there for 20 days, and was consistently (and constantly) treated with respect, care, and friendship.  Staff was never upset or impatient with her, and she grew to know them by name.  The provided meals were dependably nutritious, but still fun to eat, and how much she ate was closely monitored without getting in her way.  (It's often difficult to get the elderly to eat enough, so they were more concerned with getting her to eat more, than to restrict what she had.)  All meals are served in the dining room (not a cafeteria, but more of a restaurant), so people do not get stuck forgotten in their rooms for days on end, as happens in some other facilities.

Rehab exercises were done in two sessions per day, with illustrated instructions given to her so she could continue her regimen after leaving the facility.  The entire time, the focus was on getting her back home and independent, not on shoving her out the door for some other facility to deal with.

A social activity of some sort was planned every day, but attendance was not required.  Anyone who felt up to it was welcome.  Instructions on what she was allowed to do alone and what required assistance were very clear, and staff never ignored her when she needed some help.

And finally, no matter what facility you choose, you should look for one that accepts Medicare, because Medicare demands periodic inspections.  The State does do some inspections, but they don't have enough money or trained staff to really do as thorough and demanding a job as Medicare does.  Facilities that are not required to be inspected may be just fine, but with no one looking at them before you arrive, my personal belief is that you're asking for trouble.  You are completely within your rights asking for the results of the latest Medicare inspection. If the facility has an excuse for not showing them to you, turn around and go anywhere else.

If your or your loved one's situation requires short-term assistance, I would strongly suggest that you call Advanced.