Rehab expands

Patients are anxious to get home after a major medical event.

The transition, though, is not always easy to make.

IU Health Jay has added a feature in hopes of making the process a bit smoother.

The hospital held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Rehab-to-Home Activity Room.

There was also an open house for its new wound healing center last week.

“We're really excited to have this opportunity to have an activity of daily living space for our rehab to home, swing bed program,” said Christina Schemenaur, chief operating officer of IU Health Jay. “It is an opportunity for our patients to get outside of the four walls of their room, have a more community, multidisciplinary feel to help with their healing. We can simulate how to make sure they're independent and confident in the way they can bathe, cook, dress, just take care of themselves at home, either independently or with family.”

The activity room is equipped to allow patients to practice everyday tasks, in order to ensure that they are ready to leave the hospital and return home.

Located on the second floor of the hospital, it features a washer, dryer, range, microwave and refrigerator. There are also two shower set-ups, one with a standard bathtub and the other without. A bed and chair simulate a bedroom environment.

Another piece of equipment allows patients to gauge whether they are able to effectively get into and out of a car.

“Our goal is to be able to return patients to their homes where they're safe and for them to be able to continue to heal,” said physical therapist Brian Ison.

“So we can simulate if they need to be able to be in their kitchen …

“So if they had a recent stroke and they've lost use of their arm or their leg or have balance issues, we can try to be able to simulate for us to be able to work with some of that activity.”

Before the Rehab-to-Home Activity Room was added this summer, the hospital staff was limited to what was available to them in the patient rooms.

It is also used as a place for patients to get out of their typical hospital rooms. They can go there to spend time with family and play games — Yahtzee and Farkle have been popular, nurse Julie Teeter said — in a space that feels more homey and less clinical.

“It’s brighter in here,” said Schemenaur. “You feel like you're more in a home environment than a medical environment.”

“And you're not stuck in that room staring at the four walls,” added Ison, noting that the average hospital stay is 10 to 14 days.

The wound clinic is a returning service to the hospital after the previous iteration closed in 2020 because of a change with the doctor who was providing those services.

Dr. Jerry Whetzel of Jay Family Medicine expressed an interest in wound care, which has allowed the hospital to offer the clinic again. It is currently open on Tuesdays and Thursdays inside Family First Healthcare in the hospital, with Whetzel as the provider and medical director.

“We continued to have a need for wound care in our community,” said Schemenaur. “There's a backlog of wound care opportunities in Muncie and in the other clinics it is extremely busy. And so the backlog was causing problems for our community and our patients.”

She said the clinic predominantly works with diabetic patients who get ulcers and can have a difficult time healing. Patients can also include those who are post-surgical or have poor circulation.

The hospital’s therapy department is also now able to provide care for lymphedema — swelling caused by an abnormal accumulation of lymph — which is a common side effect of some cancer treatments. Assistance with bandages, exercises and massage can help with the swelling.

Schemenaur added that IU Health Jay is working with IU Health Ball and hopes to be able to provide perfusion testing — medical imaging that measures blood flow — in Portland as well.