For those who have suffered a serious illness or injury, the hardest part often is getting back to normal.
As the only inpatient rehabilitation facility in Harrison and Hancock counties, Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital, a partner of Memorial Hospital of Gulfport, accepts patients from throughout the Coast and as far north as Hattiesburg. The hospital’s programs help them recover after debilitating events like stroke, amputation and hip fracture.
“Our goal is for our patients to be able to return home as close to their prior level of independence as possible,” says CEO Amber Hester.
According to Hester, Encompass Health became a partner of Memorial Hospital after acquiring Memorial’s 33-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit. Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital opened in 2017 and is located inside Memorial on the second floor of the east tower.
“Encompass Health is the largest post-acute care provider for inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the country,” Hester says. “There are over 130 Inpatient rehab hospitals across the country like ours.”
Patients usually remain in the hospital 10-14 days, she adds, and undergo intensive therapy during their stay. When patients arrive, staff assesses how much help they need to perform basic functions. A rehabilitation team then works with patients to set attainable goals and design a treatment plan.
Encompass Health’s care regimen, according to Hester, includes frequent visits by a rehabilitation doctor; an interdisciplinary, collaborative team approach; specialty nursing training; leading-edge rehabilitation expertise; a weekly team conference; exceptionally trained therapists providing intensive therapy three hours per day, five days per week; and state-of-the-art therapy gyms and rehabilitation technology.
“It is amazing to watch patients overcome the challenges many of these illnesses and injuries bring,” Hester says. “Seeing the progress that can be made when a patient isn’t walking when being admitted to our hospital, and seeing them discharge home with the ability to independently care for themselves in a short timeframe, is a testament to what our level of care can do.”
By complying with national standards for quality and safety, the hospital has earned accreditation from The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. In 2018, Hester adds, the facility discharged over 80 percent of its patients back to the community and is on track to the same in 2019.
She explains that in the future, the facility aims to reach and help more patients in the community and to grow its scope of services.
“We always strive for the very best in high quality patient care on the Gulf Coast and to continue to raise the bar higher,” Hester says.