Winter
Haven Hospital
Brings
All Outpatient Rehab Services
Together
Under One Roof
By:
Stephanie Christopher, Rehab Director
Winter
Haven Hospital's Outpatient Rehabili-tation Programs are scheduled
to merge under one roof in December 2000. Careful planning by
the Rehab Division over the last three years has been completed
and the result is a new and convenient location to meet the special
rehab therapy needs of Polk County residents.
In
1996, our Outpatient Rehabilitation Programs began to grow and
expand. With limited space and increased volume, hours were extended
in the Musculoskeletal /Orthopedic Rehab Program and scheduling
became a creative process for the Establishing Success after Trauma:
Evaluation, Education and Management (ESTEEM) Brain Injury /Neurological/
Vocational Rehab Team. As the trend continued, thought was given
to building a new facility. We visited many central Florida rehab
and fitness facilities to help with design ideas. After several
months of committee work and as floor plan ideas were approved,
the programs are now ready to unite.
"Careful
planning by the Rehab Division over the last three years has been
completed and the result is a new and convenient location to meet
the special rehab therapy needs of Polk County residents."
The
new site is located in Winter Haven on Hwy 17, two miles north
of the Spring Lake shopping Center, in the Gill Jones building
(formerly the Old State Farm building.) Approximately 9,000 square
feet of space in the southeast corner of the building is being
specially renovated to serve a variety of outpatient therapy needs.
Parking is located at the entrance to the programs, and is reserved
for rehab clients. Patients who are recovering from back, knee,
hand and hip surgeries, sports injuries, muscle strains, strokes,
traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, balance and gait
disturbances, voice disorders and other neurological problems
will be seen by specialized therapy teams. These teams consist
of physical and occupational therapists, speech/language pathologists,
a neuropsychologist and social worker, nurses/case managers and
physicians. Our therapists are highly trained in orthopedics,
hand rehabilitation, spinal cord and brain injury/stroke rehabilitation.
Vocational rehabilitation and job placement services are available
to help with career planning and provide support for people who
are disabled. As always, our rehab services are available with
a physician's order and a phone call.
We
will continue to see patients for rehabilitation at our current
locations up until the move. In December, our high quality, cost-efficient
and caring services will come together for patients throughout
Polk County. All these services and more will be available in
one location, just minutes from downtown Winter Haven. Look for
the announcement in your local newspaper and see us for your special
rehab needs. Our programs have been CARF
accredited
since 1995 and State designated for Brain Injury Rehabilitation
since 1997. For more information, please call (863) 967-8511
or (863) 297-9311.
Patient
Testimonial
Tom
Hart is an active 50-year-old man, an administrator in the citrus
industry. He arrived in the Winter Haven Hospital's Emergency
Department on October 19, 1999 suffering from a cerebral aneurysm
that ruptured, requiring immediate surgery to stop the bleeding
in his brain. Once he was stabilized, he was admitted to Mid-Florida
Rehab Center located on the hospital's 7th floor for inpatient
rehab. On 12/27/99, he was admitted to Outpatient Brain Injury
Rehab, Establishing Success after Trauma: Evaluation, Education
and Management (ESTEEM) and went through several weeks of intensive
community integration with physical therapy, occupational therapy,
speech therapy, psychology and vocational services. He returned
to his job in April of this year. Tom deserves as much credit
for his rehab as he gave us because it was his determination
and "don't quit" attitude that really paid off. Great job, Tom!
We couldn't have done it without you.
Below
is Tom's e-mail to ESTEEM after discharge.
"I
would like to thank you and everyone at ESTEEM for preparing
me so well for reentry back into the real world. I am doing
great. I am so thankful for the wonderful experience I had in
rehab and I'm amazed at how well prepared I was. Not a day goes
by that I don't use and think about the strategies I learned
there. People are asking some interesting questions about my
medical condition, and I am trying to answer them all in a straightforward
way. I am using my sense of humor whenever possible! If I had
only known how many hoops I was going to have to jump through,
I would have been practicing. Hoop jumping should definitely
be added to your Job Club. It's probably been my biggest challenge
of returning to work. I passed my adaptive mobility...driving
test. They were very thorough checking my vision, cognitive
ability...Today was extra special because I drove myself there
(ESTEEM).
I am so proud to be driving again I can't really express myself
properly. However, I believe ESTEEM helped me reach this goal.
Without all the hard work from each of you, I certainly wouldn't
be where I am today. Each of you will always have a special
place in my Heart. Thanks again for everything you did for me."
-
Tom Hart
