CARIBOU — The national average stay at a skilled rehab center is 35 days. But according to Phil Cyr, administrator at the Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center, patients are going home much sooner: the average stay at Caribou Rehab is 20 days — about two weeks shorter.
Why is this important? Illnesses and accidents take a huge toll on patients and their families. They take time away from children, spouses, jobs, and all those important things in life. When someone suffers a serious injury or illness and needs extra time to recover, they are often referred to a rehabilitation center. There, a patient receives special care that is focused on a return to everyday life. Length of stay becomes an important issue: how quickly can patients return to a normal life?
Patients are anxious to return home after any type of convalescence. Getting patients to a point in their recovery that they can move home safely is a key component to their overall success.
Cyr stated there are several reasons for their faster turn around, a key, though, is that the therapist finds a balance between assertiveness and encouragement toward the patient. Pushing a patient to move slightly beyond their comfort zone is important to physical recovery, he said.
“The more you push, the stronger the body becomes,” explained Cyr. The facility’s relationship with Synertx, a leading rehab services firm, also contributes to the Caribou Center’s success. Cyr stated Synertx’s therapists have developed a very efficient method of caring for patients.
Building a culture of caring within the facility permeates all staff, right down to the front lines. The nursing staff constantly enforces all of a patient’s progress in therapy. In addition, a successful discharge is dependent on social services for arranging for the proper support services in the home. “Our staff cares about getting patients back to a normal routine — and you can’t fake that,” said Cyr.
Rather than focusing on the maximum number of days reimbursed by Medicare, therapists at Caribou Rehab focus on the number of days actually required for the patient to recover. Adam Richardson, occupational therapist and Synertx team leader, said patients want to work toward going home, given the chance. “From the beginning, patients set their own goals. Ninety percent say they want to go home as soon as possible and we work together to make that happen,” said Richardson.
Richardson also credits the level of efficiency facilitated by the partnership with Synertx: the company’s technical and administrative support allows therapists much more time with patients.
Caribou Rehab works with patients confronting a variety of conditions, from stroke to respiratory illness, as well as conditions resulting from elective surgeries (like hip or knee replacement), trauma, or recovery from cardiac surgery.
All in all, the facility is proud of its many successes and continues to strive for excellence in all areas. Exceeding a national average length of stay by more than two weeks is cause for pride among staff as well as patients. Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center is owned and operated by the Cyr family.
For more information, visit their website at caribourehabandnursing.com or call 498-3102.
