Robert: A Journey of Recovery
Robert, 52, lived at home independently until developing a fever, cough and chest pain. He was admitted to a short-term acute care hospital. Robert, who was a heavy smoker was diagnosed with pneumonia. He went into respiratory distress and was placed on a ventilator. Robert’s doctors also discovered a lung abscess that required a wedge resection procedure and multiple antibiotics. After the procedure, Robert was weaned off the ventilator only to get back on shortly thereafter. After performing a tracheostomy, Robert’s doctors realized that his recovery process would be slow. Robert was transferred to Kindred Hospital Philadelphia for continued care.
Robert was admitted to Kindred Hospital Philadelphia in mid August to continue his ventilator weaning and receive IV antibiotics, wound care and tube feedings. He needed close monitoring of his anemia and acute kidney injury, as well as physical, occupational, and speech therapy. So along with his attending physician, Robert received care from many of the specialists on staff at Kindred, including pulmonology, respiratory, rehabilitation and infectious disease.
Robert was immediately started on the Kindred weaning protocol, which was adjusted each day to maximize his breathing potential. After five days he only needed the ventilator at night to rest. By day 11 his tracheostomy was capped, and in early September, only 2 weeks after his admission to Kindred, the tracheostomy was removed completely.
Having endured a long illness and hospitalization, Robert was physically debilitated upon arrival at Kindred. The physical, occupational and speech therapists had a lot of work to do to get him to be able to live at home safely. Every day he showed progress, and after 2 weeks he could shower, ambulate fifty feet with a rolling walker, and go up and down four steps by himself with supervision. The therapists worked with Robert closely, teaching and reminding him how to take care of himself and knowing when to ask for help. He was swallowing effectively and eating solid food even before the tracheostomy came out.
In less than three weeks at Kindred Hospital, Robert was off the ventilator and eating solid food, had completed his course of antibiotics, and was able to take care of himself at home. Because he came to Kindred, his recovery wasn’t so slow after all.
Kindred Hospital Philadelphia’s success is apparent in stories like these as well as in our quality scores – our patients and families rate our quality of care at 91 percent and 90 percent would recommend Kindred.