Arbor Health | Arbor Health and Life | Spring 2020

Caring for patients as they transition home >> health NEWS Our Services 24-hour, on-site ER doctor Mossyrock Clinic Randle Clinic Specialty Clinic ●   ● General surgery. ●   ● Women’s health. ●   ● Sleep medicine. Surgery Clinic Wound Care Clinic Clinical Laboratory Consulting Specialists Diagnostic Imaging ●   ● CT scan. ●   ● 3-D digital mammography. ●   ● Digital x-ray. ●   ● MRI. ●   ● Nuclear medicine. ●   ● Ultrasound. Behavioral Health Nutrition Services Outpatient Drug Therapy Physical Rehabilitation ●   ● Aqua therapy. ●   ● Occupational therapy. ●   ● Physical therapy. ●   ● Respiratory services. ●   ● Speech therapy. Sleep Lab Social Services Visit us online at myarborhealth.org . Leianne Everett, CEO We passed the one-year mark of the introduction of our Mayo Clinic-affiliated Transitional Care earlier this year. I am pleased to report it has proven to be one of the best endeavors we’ve undertaken in a long time. The term transitional care is pretty new to the medical scene; you are not alone if you aren’t familiar with it. This is the hospital-stay term for those transitioning between specialized hospi- talization and home. Meeting a need Good examples of these patients are those recover- ing from joint replacement surgeries, stroke and trau- matic injuries. The stroke patient is the best example, though, as they very often start out in our emergency department. When a stroke patient comes through our emergency doors, we stabilize them, administer the vital clot-busting medica- tions to prevent further brain damage and then transfer them to a larger hospital with on-staff neurologists. That is exactly how it’s supposed to happen for the best outcome. However, at some point in that same patient’s recovery, he or she will likely be discharged from that larger hospital to a lower level of care. Before we brought in Transitional Care, our community members had to complete their next phase of recov- ery at a skilled nursing facility (SNF), better known as a nursing home. Today, though, East Lewis County patients have a choice. Family matters The first advantage for patients who come to Arbor Health, Morton Hospital for the last leg of their hospital-stay recovery is they’re close to home, which means they’re closer to family. It’s a lot easier for East Lewis County family members to make frequent visits if they don’t have a lengthy drive. That’s not the only advantage, though. Be- cause we are a hospital, we offer other advan- tages as well: ●   ● We have a much higher nurse-to-patient ratio, with four to five patients per nurse rather than the typical 10 to 15 patients per nurse at SNFs. ●   ● We have on-site rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and respiratory therapy. ●   ● We have an on-site physician 24 hours a day. ●   ● We have a full-time activities director. ●   ● Most of our Transitional Care patients are here for 10 to 14 days—which is two to three times shorter than experienced at most SNFs. HELPING YOU GET BACK ON YOUR FEET. We’re here to care for you and your family members. Call Case Manager Joyce Bailey at 360-496-3533 to learn more. Care in your neighborhood: Morton Hospital staff had the privilege of caring for Gloria Cournyer as a Transitional Care patient last year. In addition to the compassionate, personal care she received, the convenient location enabled her husband, Ralph, and their family to visit daily. 2 MYARBORHEALTH.ORG