Case Study: The Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center – Q 1 2025
Patient Miguel M
Patient Age: 44
Joined Us On: December 20th, 2024
Admitted From: Lenox Hill Hospital
Discharge Date: March 18th, 2025
Length of Stay: 88 Days
Reason For Stay: Rehabilitation following hospitalization for septic shock

Details of Experience:

At the end of 2024, a very friendly face joined our community on one of our short term rehabilitation floors,  Miguel M. Fast forwarding just a few weeks after his admission, Miguel had quickly become a staple on his floor. All of the residents, staff, families and friends who visit all know Miguel and he knows them too. When speaking about him, one staff member referred to him as the “light of the floor, and friends with everyone.”

Going back to 2024, on December 13th, Miguel went into septic shock and was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital. He had become septic as a result of a dental abscess and would spend the next week in the hospital receiving antibiotics and other treatments. With such a unique illness, the ramifications that come with such are difficult including a tremendous amount of pain. 

First off, with any mouth/jaw injury being able to eat becomes difficult. Eating and building up the energy for rehabilitation and therapy is the first step to recovery. Another effect of Miguel’s condition was an inability to walk and ambulate, as well as weakness in his upper body. He had first struggled to be able to feed himself and eat, but working with his Speech-Language Pathologist, Carly, he was able to quickly make strides and was soon able to start eating on his own. During every step of his recovery, Miguel continued to give a great deal of credit to his Physical and Occupational Therapists, Kabi and Danielle. When talking about working with them he said, “Because of them and because of the way they did things, the therapy benefited me in every way. They helped me take it all one step at a time.”

Though being in a rehabilitation facility for such an extended period of time can be frightening or intimidating, especially during the holiday season, Miguel was thankful of the effort The Riverside showed to make him and our other residents feel more comfortable and at home. Miguel said though he was alone,”The facility came by with Christmas gifts, I was shocked and thankful… at the New Year, they came by with apple cider, we had music, we watched TV. After that the facility had many events where the patient and staff would mingle. It made me feel free like I was not in a rehabilitation facility.” Another amenity Miguel showed gratitude towards was our complimentary car service for the families of our short-term residents. With the service, Miguel’s family would be able to come visit him on the weekends.

In early February, Miguel was able to take his first steps with his own strength with the help of his two therapists. Just over a month later, Miguel was up and walking over 300 steps on his own, completely independent in all his daily activities and was now ready to head back home. Though the building and his floor will miss Miguel, we are happy to see him walking out of The Riverside and back home. We wish him nothing but the best and good luck on the rest of his rehabilitation journey!