Sponsored by Oxford Health and Rehab Center

After a stay in the hospital, most people hope to be able to go home to complete their recovery.  However, sometimes their doctor may recommend a period of rehabilitation before they’re able to return to the comfort of their own home.   When a person no longer needs the acute care offered by the hospital, oftentimes they still need the assistance of medical professionals.  Following the trauma of a surgery or extended illness, the path to full recovery can require a stay at a skilled-care facility.

These facilities, such as Oxford Health and Rehab Center, provide 24-hour nursing care along with access to many medical specialists.  This care, while a step-down from the intensity of acute care, can offer the perfect solution to ensure a patient regains their full strength and returns to their highest level of functioning.  “Full recovery to the highest level of independence is always our goal,” according to Joseph Johnson, CEO and administrator of Oxford Health and Rehab Center in Oxford, Miss.

The center offers a range of health and rehab services including nursing, wound care occupational and physical therapy, all designed to aid the transition from hospital care to home.  “The primary purpose of coming here versus going home is to have that continuum of medical treatment, so that you can achieve full recovery,” Johnson said.

Reasons Doctors Consider Rehab

Before a person can be discharged from a hospital to their own home, their doctors need to be sure they will be safe there and will be able to fully recover .  This often depends on how much help they have available at home.  It also may depend on how much they could benefit from the support of extended professional medical services offered through a rehab facility.  They may have multiple health conditions that could impact recovery, or they may need medications – such as IV antibiotics – that can’t be given at home. They may also have wounds that need expert nursing care. In those circumstances, the doctor would recommend rehabilitation– and for good reason, according to Johnson.

Without the level of medical attention that a facility such as Oxford Health and Rehab Center can provide, there’s a high risk that the patient “would most likely end up right back in the hospital,” he said. “Conditions that might lead to a need for rehab care include total hip or knee replacements, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure,” Johnson said.

Wound Care and Therapy in Rehab Facility

If an individual has serious or lingering wounds, this can be a reason to recommend rehab care – particularly if the person has other medical problems.  According to Johnson,

“depending on their typical health, if they have vascular issues or things like that, it’s going to take that wound longer to heal, because they don’t have good blood flow.”

Services offered through Oxford Health and Rehab Center’s skilled therapy unit – which is focused on enabling patients to transition to their own home – include wound care, IV antibiotic administration, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, in its state-of-the-art gym. Most patients stay with them for around a month, although some may stay for as little as seven to 10 days.

“There was a time when people thought that rehabilitation always took 100 days, but that is no longer true,” Johnson said. He also recognized that some people may be reluctant to go to rehab for fear of losing their independence. “Once they come here and get the medical attention and intense therapy that we offer, they experience the benefits and see how much better the outcome is…they are much healthier and happier when they go home,” he said. To find out more about Oxford Health and Rehab Center, visit http://oxfordhealthandrehab.com.