Business of the Week: HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital

9th Floor Gives Patients New View on Life

What do patients on the top floor of HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital see? Along with a remarkable view of Eau Claire and the beautiful Chippewa River valley, a renewed quality of life comes into focus.

The 9th floor of the hospital is home to inpatient physical rehabilitation services. Here, individuals faced with a life-changing injury or illness work with therapists and nurses to rebuild function and regain independence.

After initial treatment for a major injury or illness, such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury, heart attack, or other major medical event, hospitalized individuals take a crucial step on the road to recovery when they begin rehabilitation. At HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center, the only one of its kind in western Wisconsin, the team that includes rehabilitation therapists, nurses, a physiatrist and a social worker creates an individually tailored therapy regimen to prepare each patient to return to life at home.

“By offering our patients an intense rehabilitation program of three hours of therapy, five days per week, we increase their chances of making meaningful recoveries and enjoying good quality of life,” says Jamie Wright, RN, CNRN, BSN, nursing manager of rehabilitation services at HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals. “They receive physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as other services such as wound care, respiratory therapy and spiritual care as needed.”

THERAPY IN MOTION

At the Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center, rehabilitation therapy takes place in several morning and afternoon sessions in patients’ rooms or the center’s gym, which houses a variety of physical therapy equipment to help individuals rebuild their strength. One of the gym’s newest additions is the Bioness Vector System – a harness hung from the ceiling that supports patients as they practice walking. Watch the video below to learn how patients can recover more quickly and safely with the Bioness equipment.

The gym also features a dedicated occupational therapy space complete with a kitchen for practicing ways to navigate indoor environments.
 
EVERYDAY TRANSFORMATIONS 

Two of the most challenging conditions to overcome – stroke and traumatic brain injury – can leave patients with significant functional deficits. For rehabilitation therapists and nurses, those cases often become the most rewarding.
 
“People come to us at their lowest levels, and we teach them how to live again by helping them relearn the basic skills we take for granted,” Wright says. “Life might not be the same as it was before, but we can help them enjoy it. That’s why we do what we do.”
 
Click here to learn more about the Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Center at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, or call 715-717-4361.