Rehabilitation Therapy

Many of our patients come to CSH following severe illness or injury.  Our team works to assist patients and families on their road to recovery as well as to prepare them for the next level of care.  Physical, occupational, speech therapists and rehab aides make up the hospital based team that provide rehabilitative care to those patients that are identified as medically stable and appropriate for therapy.  The rehab department also supports volunteer organizations such as music therapy from Queens University and pet therapy within the hospital.  All therapists are nationally certified; state licensed and have graduated from an accredited college or university.  The rehab staff are highly trained in caring for medically complex patients and provide the best care at the right opportunity. Our services are individually tailored to each patient based on current functional status, medical status and activity tolerance.  Therapy services can be provided at varying levels of time and intensity based on patient needs.  Any specialized rehab equipment or supplies required by our patients are available and include feeding and dressing equipment, dependent lifts, specialized chairs and walking devices.  In conjunction with a multi-disciplinary team, therapy is able to provide services to patients on ventilators, with significant wounds and a variety of ailments.  Throughout the hospital stay, therapy works closely with the hospital team to identify and recommend the next step for the patients, including transitions to home, inpatient rehab and other environments.

Our Services:

Physical Therapy: provide services to help patients regain strength and function through various exercises.  Here at CSH, physical therapy focuses on the patients' ability to move around including getting out of bed, sitting, standing, walking and stair climbing.  We also focus on training of family and caregivers to assist their loved ones. 

Occupational Therapy: provide services to help patients to be able to groom, dress, and bathe themselves.  Some patients may learn to do cleaning, cooking and laundry.  At CSH, occupational therapy focuses on the activities that a person must complete to be able to go home safely.  We also focus on training of caregivers and families to maximize the patients' safety.

Speech Therapy: provide services to patients that have difficulty swallowing or communicating.  At CSH, speech therapy is able to administer modified barium swallow (MBS) and state of the art flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallow (FEES) studies to evaluate patients' ability to swallow.  This assists the physician with proper selection of safe diet and food consistencies.  Vital stim is also available to our patients by certified providers.  Our speech therapists are also experts at helping patients on ventilators communicate. 

Restorative Care Aides: We have specially trained individuals that carry out our restorative program for patients at the recommendation of our licensed therapy team.  The restorative program is available to patients who are not yet ready for therapy or who have completed their therapy program.  This might include, range of motion, bed exercises, time out of bed, and walking.

If you would like information about the qualifications of our therapy team, more information is available at the following websites:

American Physical Therapy Association: www.apta.org
North Carolina Board of Physical Therapy Examiners: www.ncptboard2.org
American Occupational Therapy Association: www.aota.org
North Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy: www.ncbot.org
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: www.asha.org
North Carolina Speech-Hearing-Language Association: www.ncshla.org