TGMC's Health and
Rehabilitation Unit

Rehab services make a difference every day

It was a normal morning at home for Ross until dizziness knocked him down and nausea forced him to crawl to the bathroom. His wife drove him to Terrebonne General Medical Center (TGMC), where he was stabilized and treated. Ross had just experienced a stroke and his fight was only beginning.

If he wanted to return to his job as a sheriff's deputy, Ross had to learn to walk and talk again. Now, after six months of twice-a-week therapy sessions, he sees amazing results.

"I considered myself to be basically dead after I had the stroke," Ross says. "My rehab team at Terrebonne General brought me back to life as I knew it."

What is rehabilitation therapy?
Rehabilitation therapy uses exercises and activities to help patients recover from illness, injury or surgery. It can be a long process, especially for patients recovering from severe trauma. "It's not like having a sore throat, when the doctor treats you and you get better in a few days," says Hector Linares, M.D., medical director of the Health and Rehabilitation Unit. "In rehab, it's a matter of weeks or months."

Rehab is fully customized to the patient's unique needs. Personalized programs will often include:

Physical therapy, which teaches the patient exercises that help strengthen the body, improve mobility and prevent reinjury.

Occupational therapy, which involves using specially designed activities to teach patients how to perform everyday tasks.

Speech therapy, which covers treatment of many speech and language problems.

At TGMC, physicians and case managers carefully track patients' progress, social workers arrange for support services, psychologists are available to address emotional and behavioral needs, and dietitians provide advice about proper nutrition during and after care. If braces or artificial limbs are needed, the rehabilitation team will also take care of these services.

Specially trained rehab nurses provide 24-hour care that backs up the therapists' goals for each patient.

"We have to support what the therapists accomplish with their patients," says Cindy Hitt, RN, BSN, CRRN, nurse director of rehabilitation. "It's definitely a team effort, and that makes rehab a really upbeat place to work. When there's a success story,we know we all had a hand in it."

Recognized for excellence
TGMC's rehab unit is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).

"The reward of our work is seeing the patients smile," Linares says. "You realize that, when they came in, they couldn't walk and now they're walking."

Six months after arriving in the rehab unit in a wheelchair, Ross was walking, talking, driving, singing in church and playing with his grandchildren."I'm not 100 percent yet," he says, "but with the help of my family and my rehab team at Terrebonne General, I know nothing is impossible."

For more information about TGMC rehab services, call (985) 873-4738.

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