Transitional Care

We believe that respiratory patients coming to a post-acute care environment is the best place for them. The long hospitalization length of stay obviously affected patients that already have pre-existing medical conditions especially respiratory issues.

They are not ready for a discharge home, but they really do not need to tie up a hospital bed in an acute care facility. So that’s where transitional care come in. We are able to accept those medically stable patients, not requiring on-site physician care and continue that level of care and begin the rehabilitation process.

Islands as a post-acute care facility that specializes in ventilator and tracheostomy care management and being able to successfully wean patients off the ventilator and tracheostomy tube decannulation. We are the perfect place to take care of these patients. These ventilator and tracheostomy patients are challenge to rehabilitate since they are medically complex.

On day one, we start assessment for weaning and decannulation with our Pulmonologist. Physical therapy would come in on day two to assess and start the physical therapy at the bedside. We mobilize the patients early sometimes even get them walking even before they are weaned off the ventilator or tracheostomy tube decannulated.

What we do at Islands is very important for these ventilator and tracheostomy patients. A lot of these patients thought that they were not going to make it and now they come here and their mindset changes. Maybe they sat up for the first time at the edge of the bed, or they are taking their first steps or standing. It is so motivating for them, so they work even harder in our modern therapy gym and they just get better so much quicker.

At Islands, we have the appropriate specialties and respiratory care telemetry monitoring to care for these patients. Our Respiratory Therapists manage our ventilator and tracheostomy care program and are on staff 24/7. Our rehabilitation team, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy are experienced with rehabilitation with tracheostomy and ventilator patients.

They survived the hardest part, and everyday progress even more with intensive rehabilitation in a post- acute care environment at Islands so that they can successfully transition home with lower levels of care.