Short-term Rehab: Which Facility is Right for You?

Your knee replacement was a success, you’re ready to be discharged from the hospital, and next you’ll need short-term rehab. But how do you decide where to go? A facility’s reputation and quality of care are primary driving factors, but other elements are part of the equation. Some people turn to family, friends, and neighbors for recommendations.

“We visited our neighbor while she was a short-term rehab patient at CHCC. As we watched her progress, we saw the very tender care that she received and how much her family appreciated the way she was cared for,” Valerie Shurko says. “So when my husband Jerry was discharged from the hospital after suffering a stroke, I wanted him to come to Christian Health for short-term rehab because of the wonderful care that our neighbor received. And since Jerry’s care was so, so wonderful, I knew exactly where I wanted to go for rehab following my knee replacement.”

For others, location plays a role.

“My biggest concern was my rehabilitation destination. I wanted Christian Health (CHCC) to be my rehab facility. My daughters were going to tend to my house, and I wanted them to be able to visit me conveniently, with the knowledge that I was receiving the best of care,” Susan Winter says. “On top of that, I’ve lived in Wyckoff for many, many years, and I always knew about the wonderful facility ‘up on the hill’ – Christian Health. It has been the hallmark of care for all the years I have lived here.”

Online research can be helpful. When West Virginia native Brian Corbin required short-term rehab following hospitalization for a work accident in New Jersey, his family surfed the Internet for information.

“My husband’s worker’s compensation nurse recommended Christian Health. She had worked at CHCC, and her father had been a short-term rehab patient there,” Mindy Corbin says. “We wondered what therapy was offered and what the therapy rooms looked like, so we went to CHCC’s website to get more information and look at pictures of the Bolger Rehab Gym & Wellness Center. We were impressed.”

The 14,000-square-foot Bolger Rehab Gym & Wellness Center is the primary location for short-term rehab on CHCC’s Wyckoff campus. (A satellite is located at Christian Health Care Adult Day Services in Wayne.) The high-tech facility includes state-of-the-art equipment, an indoor track, and a variety of free weights and exercise devices. It also includes a Transitional Care Suite, a treatment modality unique to North Jersey. The suite encompasses a kitchen/dining area, family room, laundry room, bedroom, and bathroom where patients relearn activities of daily living in a safe, private environment that stimulates a typical home setting. A specialized program of the outpatient division is LSVT BIG, an intensive one-on-one physical and occupational therapy program for individuals with Parkinson’s disease.

“Short-term rehab at CHCC,” Mrs. Shurko says, “is the benchmark for excellence.”

For more information about inpatient and outpatient short-term rehab at Christian Health, contact Karen Hockstein at (201) 848-4463 or khockstein@chccnj.org.