Patients Age: 96
Admission Date: 6/8/2017
Admitted From: Hudson Valley Hospital Center
Discharge Date: 7/18/2017
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 40 days
Reason for stay: To increase strength, mobility, and balance due to a fracture of the right femur, which occurred when experiencing a fall at her local church.

Details of Experience:

After meeting with Ivy, our Community Liaison at the hospital, the team at Emerald Peek warmly welcomed Ruth Bush on June 8th. Ruth and her family were greeted by RN Care Manager, Sandy Gomas and Director of Concierge Services, Katie Cullum. Ruth’s primary focus while researching rehabilitation facilities was a community, which would have the skills and team necessary to return Ruth to her full life in the external community. Ruth is an extremely active member at her local church, and was anxious to be able to rejoin her fellow church members. Ruth was comforted by the fact she had been able to meet with every single department, most importantly Tom Cirrincione, the Director of Rehabilitation Services, with whom she looked forward to discussing her rehabilitation plan. She Ruth also expressed how important it was to keep her mind and spirit active throughout the day. Katie Foulk, the Director of Therapeutic Recreation, reassured Ruth she would have all the activities she enjoyed participating in each day.

Weeks 1 through 4 of Patient’s Stay

Within 48 hours, Tom designed a treatment plan in place for Ruth, ensuring she would safely return to doing the things she loved in the shortest possible amount of time. Ruth had a six day a week treatment schedule consisting of both physical and occupational therapy. Ruth made improvements in her overall functionality in the early few weeks of her stay. Prior to her admission, she did not have the ability to dress the lower half of her body or use any adaptive equipment. Ruth struggled with transferring from a sitting position to a standing position as well. At the end of her 4th week, working with Deborah, her Physical Therapist, she could now perform all these functions with only minimal supervision. She made great progress working closely with Tosin, her Occupational Therapist, as well. With the help of Tosin, Ruth re-gained the ability to complete all Activities of Daily Living, including her hygiene and grooming tasks, without any hands on assistance. Ruth put great effort in partaking in all the specialty rehabilitation exercises and treatment tools available. A great example of this is the car in our rehabilitation gym. This car is used to ensure the safe transfer of residents before discharge. Ruth and Tosin used the car to make sure Ruth would be comfortable to travel immediately after discharge.

Weeks 4 through 6 of Patient’s Stay

Increasing mobility is always a goal in the Emerald Peek Rehabilitation department. We work closely with every rehabilitation patient to find a way to help the resident become more mobile, Ruth was no exception. Not only did Ruth meet her long term goal of ambulating 300 feet with a rolling walker with only distant supervision, increasing from 150 feet only the week before. Ruth wanted stairs to be no obstacle for her after her discharge home. Deborah guided Ruth to accomplishing a goal of mastering 15 stairs with bilateral railings in her final week in therapy. She also met her goals such as improving her bed mobility, strengthening her balance and performing tub transfers with a grab bar, made possible with the uniquely designed bathroom located in ADL suite within the rehabilitation gym. She also made use of the kitchen, washing machine, and bed to simulate all the daily activities Ruth would be doing at home while under Tosin’s clinical eye.

Within The Last 3 Days of Patient’s Discharge

After six weeks of rehab, Ruth was now ready to return back home to her caring family who were very involved in her entire stay at The Emerald Peek, much faster than originally anticipated. She was discharged on July 18, 2017. Ruth was extremely happy to return home, but admitted she would miss the staff at The Emerald Peek. She shared, “I will miss you all and I cannot wait to come back and visit.” Ruth is back at her church, along with her family, and is grateful to everyone who helped get her back to accomplishing all her greatest passions in life.