The January 2017 Department Discovery shines a light on the
Short Term Rehabilitation department at
The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center in Gillette, Wyoming.
Short-term care is focused on getting people back to their homes after
hospitalization with a daily therapy schedule, such as physical or speech
therapy, and help with the activities of daily living like dressing and
cooking meals. Candidates for short term rehab are individuals who have
experienced the following:
- Stroke
- prolonged hospitalization
- total joint replacement
- functional or physical decline
- major surgery
- trauma
For those who don’t know, rehabilitation is all about movement, healing
and regaining the lifestyle patient’s desire. Short-term rehab patients
enjoy their own separate wing at The Legacy, with private rooms and bathrooms,
and direct access to the large rehab gym, which is full of natural light
and innovative therapeutic equipment to meet every patient’s individualized
care plan.
Supervised by Occupational Therapist Traci Means, the Short Term Rehab
department is staffed with 10 employees: Gosia Olson, Physical Therapist
(PT); Emily Swanson, Physical Therapist Assistance (PTA); Shelley Baker,
PTA; Anton Schabauer, Rehab Tech; Ryan Garman, Certified Occupational
Therapist Assistant (COTA); Christie Boer, Occupational Therapist (OT);
Kim Kelleher, Speech Therapist; Angie Laakso, OT (not pictured); and Laura
Roush, OT (not pictured).
According to Traci, the best thing about Short Term Rehab is the team,
as well as the nursing staff they work with at The Legacy. “The
team is made up of phenomenal individuals who deeply care for the patients
and the residents at The Legacy. And, the gym is a rehab therapist’s
dream!” she says.
Short term rehab services include:
- Physical, occupational and speech therapies with licensed professionals
- Individualized therapies include but are not limited to: balance, strength,
dressing, simplifying tasks, pressure reduction, communication, speech,
swallowing and energy conservation
- A local physiatrist to assure that the patients are medically stable to
participate in therapies. The physiatrist will also guide the physical,
occupational and speech therapists with individualized practices to achieve
the best outcomes for each patient.
- Care managers can assist with the admission and insurance coverage process
This year, the Short Term Rehab department is looking forward to collaborating
with nursing in order to develop and implement a Restorative Nursing Program
within The Legacy. This program will enable residents to live a higher
quality of life while in the long term care facility.
“Our team is very skilled at providing the specialized therapy that
our short term rehab patients require to return home, and that our long
term residents need to enable independence,” says Traci. “We
love seeing our patients and residents progress and meet their goals.
We feel there is nothing more professionally fulfilling than to help people
in the ways we do, whether that be watching a patient return home after
experiencing a stroke followed by rehabilitation or enabling a resident
to walk to the dining room instead of riding in the wheelchair. It is
truly our pleasure to have these roles in providing care to our community
members.”
A big round of applause to the Short Term Rehabilitation team at The Legacy!
Thank you for all that you do in keeping our community healthy.
Learn more about Short Term Rehabilitation at
www.cchwyo.org/STR.