NEW INPATIENT REHAB CENTER OPENS IN TAVARES

On Jan. 7, the community joined AdventHealth Waterman to celebrate the opening of a new 12-bed Inpatient Rehabilitation Center. The was the final phase of a 111,000-square-foot, $85 million expansion.

Previously, patients and families had to travel to Orange or Sumter counties to access these services. Now, patients from Lake County can stay close to home and recover within the community.

“The patients who come to inpatient rehab have had a major event,”  said J. Coomes, AdventHealth Waterman executive director of rehab services. “They've had a stroke or some other event that's really changed their life and changed their family's life. Keeping them close to home, where family can continue to be there for them, is essential to helping them recover.”

The Inpatient Rehab Center at AdventHealth Waterman specializes in stroke and brain and spinal cord injuries, as well as patients with cardiac conditions, amputations, neurological disorders and respiratory difficulties. These patients need at least three hours of therapy per day and require multidisciplinary expertise to recover.

All of the rooms in the Inpatient Rehab Center at AdventHealth Waterman are private. In addition, the new unit includes a bariatric room with a larger entryway and bathroom to more comfortably care for patients over 750 pounds.

The Inpatient Rehab Center also provides residential-style spaces, allowing patients to relearn and practice real-life scenarios, such as cooking or doing laundry at-home, while they are still in the hospital. 

“A big part of inpatient rehab is helping patients practice the things that they did at home,” Coomes said. “In our kitchen, they can practice making meals. In our suite, which is like an apartment, we have a washer and dryer and a bed that we can use to practice making the bed, doing laundry, and more, to help that patient be ready to return home.”

This unit also offers patients the latest technology in rehabilitation.

In the gym, there is a hydraulic car that adjusts to the exact height of the patient’s personal car so patients can practice the movement necessary to safely get in-and-out of their vehicle.

For patients with limited arm and hand mobility, AdventHealth Waterman offers the ArmeoSpring system, the latest technology that provides arm and hand training for moderately-to-severely impaired patients. 

The 100-foot-long Vector Gait Bioness track system helps nursing and therapy staff safely assist patients out of bed. The track system also helps patients begin walking without the fear or risk of falling.

With the opening of this new unit, AdventHealth Waterman has grown to a 299-bed facility.

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