Patient age: 84-years-old
Admission Date: 7/25/2018
Admitted From: Westchester Medical Center
Discharge Date: 9/24/2018
Discharged To: Home
Length of Stay: 61 Days
Reason for Stay: To improve Activities of Daily Living due to injuries caused by an automobile accident

Elizabeth Karnatz came to The Emerald Peek after a devastating accident. She was struck, as a pedestrian, by an automobile. This accident left her without eyesight and the inability to care for herself. This created a major life change as she lived at home alone and would not be able to perform basic life tasks without assistance. Mrs. Karnatz was in need to improve her independence in order to return home as safely and as quickly as possible.

After this tragic accident, with Mrs. Karnatz living alone, she would not be able to walk, eat, or dress by herself, which created the challenge of her being able to live on her own. Mrs. Karnatz showed great potential in achieving her goals with our rehabilitation team. In physical therapy, her short-term goals were set by Julie, her physical therapist. Julie’s goals for Elizabeth were to be able to safely transfer in and out of bed, ambulate with a rolling walker and increase her standing balance. In occupational therapy, her occupational therapist, Tosin, set short-term goals, such as to be able to perform self-feeding tasks and to be able to wash and dress herself safely with limited supervision. Mrs. Karnatz did exceptionally well, meeting all of these goals throughout her first four weeks.

Where on July 26th – August 20th, 2018, she was only able to ambulate up to 25 feet with verbal cues and rolling walker, after eight weeks, she was walking up to 350 feet and her wheelchair was discontinued. She could now stand for one-to-two minutes with supervision. With her vision impairment improving slightly, Julie expanded her long-term goals for ambulation for Elizabeth. Within eight weeks, Elizabeth also accomplished the goal of unlimited ambulation without verbal cues and any assistive devices.

When Elizabeth to us, the team knew it would be a difficult challenge to get Elizabeth back on her feet. What the team did not know was how determined Elizabeth would be to fully participate in rehabilitation. At the time of discharge, Elizabeth said, “I knew this would be hard, but I came ready to work as hard as I could. You all pushed me so hard and helped me go home. I am so grateful to all of you. I could not be going home without you.”

He’s able to now able to walk up and down stairs with the use of handrails. He’s proven bed mobility and independence in toileting tasks, cleaning, etc. After given the last evaluation by Julie (physical therapist), it was determined that with a few recommendations and tools given to Mr. Fornander, it was finalized that he was ready for discharge to return home.

Richard Fornander was ecstatic about achieving his goals in the matter of time that he did. He sends out a special thank you to his physical therapist, Julie, who’s continued help motivated him and made him feel at home in our community.

When our concierge met with Mr. Fornander for a discharge survey, he gratefully stated , “I am thankful to all of the Emerald Peek nursing staff and team for helping me gain the ability to get through the prosthesis process, and the extra effort they put into helping me get it is overall a blessing. They knew I was determined, and even when I felt like giving up the team stood by my side.”

The Emerald Peek was so honored to be a part of Mr. Fornander’s journey here at our community. We wish him nothing but happiness, success and a healthy 2019.