Physical therapy session with senior male

At Providence St. Elias Inpatient Rehab Facility, we offer intensive rehabilitation care so you can return home as quickly and safely as possible. At our 35-bed facility we take a medically based, multispecialty approach. A doctor who specializes in rehabilitative care leads your team, ensuring responsive, highly focused care.

Care plans typically include physical, occupational and other neurological and rehabilitative therapies for a range of conditions. We assist with stroke, brain and spine injury, heart and lung disease and congenital deformities. We also provide one-to-one support and care after joint replacement, major surgery, amputation or traumatic injuries.

When life sets you back, the specialists at the Providence St. Elias Hospital Rehabilitation help you to move forward again toward better health and independence.

We treat people who are recovering from these and other conditions or disorders:

  • Amputation
  • Arthritis
  • Brain and nerve diseases and disorders
  • Burns
  • Congenital deformities
  • Degenerative diseases and disorders
  • Heart and lung disease
  • Hip fractures
  • Joint inflammation
  • Joint replacements
  • Movement disorders
  • Major multiple trauma injuries
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Muscle, bone and skeletal disorders
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Neurological disease
  • Neuropathy
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Spinal cord injuries
  • Stroke
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Vasculitis

At St. Elias Hospital, we provide intensive, active and coordinated treatments, including physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and prosthetics/orthotics therapy for adjusting to an artificial leg, knee brace or other assistive devices. We work with your primary care doctor and physiatrist or other specialists.

Our multi-specialty rehabilitative team provides comprehensive treatment for neurological and cardiopulmonary (heart and lung) conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries, degenerative disease and bone fractures. We also assist with post-surgical recovery from hip and other major joint procedures, amputations and complex accidental trauma.

After an extended illness or surgery, your rehabilitative treatment may be complicated by related serious health conditions. Many of our patients require extensive medical attention and therapies before they’re stable enough to qualify for admission to an inpatient rehabilitation facility. We work across specialties to stabilize and manage wide-ranging medical conditions.

Whatever your condition, our goal is to:

  • Help you achieve your highest level of functioning and independence
  • Help you manage pain and resolve your medical problems
  • Prevent future complications

Your doctor and care providers will work together to develop and guide an individualized care plan for you. You’ll receive physical, occupational and speech therapy if needed for at least three hours a day, five days a week.

Your treatment may include these and other therapies and services:

  • Diet and nutritional guidance from registered dietitian
  • Exercise therapy
  • Neurologist-guided therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • Orthopedic surgeon consults
  • Orthotics consulting
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation physician consults
  • Physical therapy
  • Speech therapy

If you are currently hospitalized, you or your care provider can contact us about sending an electronic medical record for an inpatient rehabilitation consult. If you need home care, please contact our referral hotline at 907-565-CARE.

Acute rehabilitation is a medically based, multispecialty approach to treating needs related to stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disorders, amputation and orthopedic conditions. Our team works to improve abilities, including physical and cognitive function (thinking, memory and other skills), language and communication. We help you gain independence in daily activities and self-care skills such as dressing, grooming, swallowing and eating.

We can help if you need and will actively participate in intensive, active, coordinated therapies such as physical, occupational and/or speech therapy. Our services can help if you’ve had an amputation and need help learning how to function well with an artificial limb.

We’ll also help if you’ve been fitted with supportive or assistive devices, such as crutches or a wheelchair, or if you want to learn about home safety devices and other ways to prevent falls or make it easier and safer to get around.

Evidence shows that the sooner you start rehabilitation, the better results you are likely to have. St. Elias nurses, coordinators and practitioners work with referring hospitals and doctors to ensure the earliest possible start to rehabilitation. We base admission on your medical history, your ability to participate in three hours of therapy daily, and whether therapies are likely to help you improve significantly within a reasonable time.

No minimum hospital stay is necessary. You can come from a hospital, residential setting or home, including the home of a friend or family member, or an assisted living facility. You must have a need for close medical supervision by a doctor for managing a medical condition.

There are no strict limitations, however the following diagnoses are approved by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid due to the proven benefits of this intense level of care:

  • Active, severe or advanced arthritis, including polyarticular rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and seronegative arthropathies
  • Amputation
  • Brain injury
  • Burns
  • Congenital deformity
  • Hip fracture
  • Knee or hip joint replacement
  • Major multiple trauma
  • Neurological disorders (multiple sclerosis, motor neuron, polyneuropathy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease)
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Stroke
  • Systemic vasculitides (chronic blood vessel inflammation) with joint inflammation

Most people stay about two weeks. Your needs and continued progress determine how long you stay. Your care manager and care team work with your family or caregivers to coordinate a safe, timely and successful return home.

You’ll receive physical, occupational or speech therapy for a minimum of three hours a day for five days a week. We tailor your therapy to your needs and goals. Rehabilitation is an active process that takes up your entire day. If you’re hospitalized, you will practice the skills and strategies you learn in therapy when you are in your hospital room. You also participate in activities outside of therapy hours, including weekends.

At Providence St. Elias, a doctor specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation leads your team, which includes specialized nurses, physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapists, social workers, dieticians, pharmacists and others.

For referrals from the community, please contact our Referral Hotline 907-565-CARE. Practitioners can make a referral through the EPIC electronic medical system for an inpatient rehabilitation consult. Our nurse liaisons are frequently on-site at all the area hospitals. They attend daily rounds and are available for your referral.

Our therapists hold a variety of advanced certifications and training, including these and other areas of specialization:

  • Brain injury
  • Clinical neurologic physical therapy
  • Lymphedema
  • Modified barium swallow impairment
  • Vestibular (balance and dizziness) therapy

Your care team may include many clinical professionals and specialists, including these and other care providers:

  • Case managers
  • Dieticians
  • Hospitalists
  • Intensivists
  • Neurologists
  • Nurse liaisons
  • Nurse practitioners
  • Occupational therapists
  • Orthopedic surgeons
  • Otolaryngologists
  • Pharmacists
  • Physiatrists
  • Physical therapists
  • Physician assistants
  • Podiatrists
  • Primary care doctors
  • Psychologists
  • Pulmonologists
  • Radiologists
  • Rehabilitation nurses
  • Respiratory therapists
  • Sleep medicine practitioners
  • Social workers
  • Speech-language therapists
  • Urologists

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