NHC rehab center helps patients return home
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With the help of NHC’s trained and professional rehabilitation staff, rehab patients are expected to get back on their feet – and back in their home – as soon as realistically possible.
“Most of our rehab patients do go back home and that’s one big misconception about what a nursing home is,” said Britt King, the NHC rehab director in McMinnville.
NHC boasts a 2,000-square-foot rehab center with the most modern equipment, and King and his staff were eager to show off their facility Monday afternoon during an open house. The rehab center helps patients who have suffered a debilitating injury, such as a stroke, nurse their way back to health and hopefully back to a more normal lifestyle.
It starts at square one and sometimes it’s a chore just getting patients back on their feet for 10-minute increments. From there, they graduate to walking with the aid of parallel bars and can build up their muscle strength further with the help of electric stimulation which shocks muscles back to their regular functions.
From the basics of walking around, the rehab program then focuses on daily activities – some as simple as getting an item from a kitchen cabinet.
“We want everything to be related to how they are at home,” said Sheila Barnett. “If they try to go home by themselves, we have to think could they function independently?”
Routine daily activities such as getting in the shower or bath tub can become a daunting task for someone recovering from a significant health problem.
“There are a lot of adaptions you don’t even think about,” said Gail Ruhn. “Most people don’t think about getting up from their couch, but when you get older that’s a concern. That’s why one of the things we offer is couch extensions to make the couch higher.”
For more information about NHC’s range of rehab services, the local phone number is 473-8431.