Acute Pulmonary Rehabilitation in an ICU Setting

Because most ventilator-dependent patients who come to the Acute Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit remain acutely ill, we offer a rehabilitation focus in an intensive care setting.

Every team member has the clinical expertise and hands-on experience in working with patients who have both acute medical conditions and acute rehabilitative needs. By maintaining a low nurse-to-patient ratio, we ensure that each patient receives constant monitoring, personal attention and customized care for all their medical needs, as well as the intensive therapy required to help them breathe on their own.

In many cases, aggressively treating the patient’s secondary health problems can facilitate the goal of achieving independent breathing.   For this reason it is important to understand that our staff focuses intently on treating any secondary health problems before rehabilitation begins.  Clearing up secondary health problems is an important goal because it helps the patient achieve maximum results as rehabilitation begins.  

To facilitate rehabilitation, the Acute Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit provides an on-site gymnasium, kitchen, tub room and other facilities for simultaneous physical, occupational and speech-language therapy, based on the patient’s needs and the treatment plan our team develops.  This comprehensive range of equipment is state-of-the-art, which allows us to give patients the best possible care to ensure the best possible results from our treatment.  Treatment is intense. Patients engage in as much therapy as they can manage, building up to three hours a day. The reward for this hard work is a return to independent breathing and whenever possible to independent living.