Community Healthcare System is a network of four hospitals and countless professionals who work in tandem to offer expert high-quality care across Northwest Indiana and the southern suburbs of Chicago. The biggest recent addition to their network is the Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center, a hospital that offers some of the highest level physical, occupational and speech therapy rehabilitation services in the country.
Community Healthcare System puts a focus on providing quality treatment for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, brain injury and strokes with a goal of making sure that patients thrive, rather than simply survive. The Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center is now a key part of that formula, where patients receive inpatient and outpatient care that extends and complements the acute rehabilitation services at Community Healthcare System’s other hospitals: Community Hospital, Munster; St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart.
“We’re the next step in the recovery process after patients ‘graduate’ from an acute care setting,” said Craig Bolda, Administrator of the Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center. “We’re a specialty hospital created in response to our community’s need and desire to have rehabilitation and outpatient services closer to home. Our physicians, nurses, therapists, caseworkers and social workers all work in unison to help patients through their road to recovery.”
Rehabilitation, be it physical, occupational or speech, is a rigorous and challenging process. Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center completes that challenge with their highly-skilled and well-trained team of therapy professionals.
“When we recruited for this team, we were looking for people with positive energy and the ability to energize others,” Bolda said. “These are people who have a passion not only for what they do, but for life in general-they love life. Our vision is to create a positive patient experience by listening, connecting and treating everyone like family.”
Pairing expertise with enthusiasm helps patients and their families stay strong during rehab.
“When you have people like ours who have such positive energy, it creates an amazing dialogue,” Bolda said. “Can you imagine having all that optimism motivating you? The goals get a little bit easier, and you believe that you’re going to get through this process.”
Designing a new facility also gave the healthcare system the chance to extend state-of-the-art technology and equipment already offered at the hospitals. Advanced technology such as the Biodex Balance System™ and the ZeroG® Gait and Balance System are helping to maximize patient’s recoveries.
“ZeroG enables our patients to get back on their feet without any risk of falling,” Bolda said. “Our staff has done a great job utilizing this kind of technology, and it allows them another resource beyond the usual treatment sessions. It’s just amazing to see them implement it as part of their arsenal of techniques and strategies.”
The team, the technology and their strong collaboration with the entire Community Healthcare System means that Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center is among the top rehab facilities in the country.
“Our outcomes are at the 92nd percentile nationally,” Bolda said. “That means many of our patients who came in after suffering a stroke, neurological dysfunction, spinal cord injury or other debilitating conditions are being discharged into the community with outcome scores and mobility better than 92 percent of facilities in the country.”
Of the many patients who have graduated from their care over the last year, one in particular stands out to Bolda as an example of why their work is so critical. He is a Crown Point resident who had suffered traumatic injuries after falling nearly 32 feet off a lift.
“After his accident, he was flown to a downtown Chicago hospital for treatment, but he heard about our new facility being so close to home and transferred back here in February,” Bolda said. “He had our whole team behind him, vying to get him back to where he was before. He really has become part of our family.”
He received inpatient care for four months before being discharged home, and he now continues to receive outpatient therapy services at Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center.
“He’s improving every day,” Bolda said. “It is incredible to see him overcome such severe fractures and injuries.”
To learn more about Community Healthcare System and Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center, visit www.COMHS.org/stroke.
