SOUTHEAST HOSPITAL TO OPEN NEW UNIT

Southeast Missouri Hospital is closing its skilled nursing facility to make way for a new unit that can offer better care and less inconvenience to rehabilitation patients and their families.

The new inpatient rehabilitation unit at the hospital is in the midst of renovations and should be open to patients Oct. 1.

The new unit will include 17 private rooms, an area for daily living activities, a solarium that will be used for dining and as a gymnasium.

A full-time rehabilitation physician will oversee patient care. Patients admitted to the unit usually stay 14 days and must be able to tolerate three hours of therapy in a 24-hour period.

St. Francis Medical Center operates both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services. The inpatient unit can serve 32 patients, the number of beds was doubled last year, said Maria Swan, coordinator of public relations.

The new unit at Southeast will provide care for patients without having to interrupt rehabilitation to move them to another location. Many times patients who need extensive rehabilitation are moved to another facility, sometimes in Springfield, Mo., or St. Louis, said Gary Anderson, the director of neurosciences and patient care.

The unit will allow the hospital provide its services in a smooth transition that will give the patient a better quality of life, he said.

Skilled nursing moves

Over the next year the hospital will evaluate its skilled nursing service. Staff who worked in the center will be reassigned to the rehab unit.

"It took a fair amount of study and consideration to go ahead and remodel," said administrator and chief executive officer James Wente.

Already the unit has patients in its skilled-care unit who would be eligible for the inpatient rehabilitation.

"It makes good sense to get into this service," Anderson said.

Wente said the program has had full support from medical staff, which should make the transition easier.

"Oftentimes with a new service, the medical staff isn't always in full support, but in this instance the staff has been genuinely supportive and that makes the whole project so comfortable to implement," Wente said.

The hospital announced the new service and renovations earlier this week after it had received approval from the board of trustees.

The project doesn't require a certificate of need hearing because of its limited scope.