Rehab – it’s a short five-letter word that refers to the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute. One definition of rehabilitation is “a treatment or treatments designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness, or disease to as normal a condition as possible.”

 “Sometimes, there has to be a ‘new normal,’” notes J. Carlo Bercy, M.S., Director, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. “Our therapists are trained to conduct an evaluation of the patient to determine what the patient is presently capable of doing compared to what the patient was able to do prior to the event which generated the need for therapy services.” This involves a team of licensed and/or certified therapists, covering five disciplines:

 Physical Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Speech Therapy

Music Therapy

Recreational Therapy

 The Physical Therapist focuses on strengthening, balance, transfers, mobility, gait and distance, while the Occupational Therapist focuses on the activities of daily living, such as bathing, grooming, feeding, dressing, toileting and functional tasks. Upon completion of their assessments, a Plan of Care is developed. Both short-term and long-term goals are established for the patient to measure progress, with the goal of returning the patient to his/her prior level of function.

 Speech-Language Pathologists not only work with patients experiencing speech and cognition problems but also test and treat swallowing difficulties in patients, especially those at risk of aspiration pneumonia

 Our Music Therapist utilizes vocal and instrumental music to assist the patient in achieving non-musical goals. Family members often participate in choosing songs the patient will find meaningful and encouraging. Music therapy services, offered in Acute Care and Inpatient Rehab (Pavilion), address social, communication, emotional, physical, cognitive, sensory and spiritual needs.

 Recreational Therapy, offered to patients participating in Inpatient Rehab (Pavilion), uses every day activities to improve memory, cognition, balance and rehabilitation in support of the other therapeutic disciplines. Recreational therapists work with the patient to restore his/her ability to participate in activities of choice, such as golf, knitting, bowling, or shopping.

 Rehab services are provided in three settings:

 Acute Care

Inpatient Rehabilitation

Outpatient Rehabilitation 

 Acute Care is therapy provided in the hospital setting. Therapy sessions occur daily. In order for a patient to be accepted at the Pavilion for Inpatient Rehab, several admission criteria must be met. One of the criteria is the patient’s ability to participate in up to three hours of therapy daily.

 When moving from Acute Care to Inpatient Rehab, the patient’s focus shifts primarily to therapy services to assist the patient in returning home and living independently.

 Outpatient Therapy allows the patient to resume normal activities such as living at home, going to work or school, and attending therapy sessions in the Outpatient clinic. Lawnwood’s Outpatient clinic also provides sports medicine to local athletes.

 Everyone on the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation team at Lawnwood is eager to assist you or a loved one in returning to the highest possible level of function.

 A referral from the patient’s physician is required for therapy.  Learn more about the services offered by the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department by calling the department office at 772.468.4446. Tours of the facility are available by appointment.