Post Falls hospital opens new rehabilitation unit for stroke, spine injury patients

North Idaho Advanced Care Hospital’s new rehabilitation unit in Post Falls will help people to their new normal after a stroke or a car crash.

The Post Falls hospital specializes in long-term care for patients recovering from serious injury or illness. While a stroke or car crash victim may go to Sacred Heart or Kootenai Health for emergency care, they may need intensive care over weeks that larger hospitals typically do not handle.

NIACH CEO Sara Ambrose likened the hospital’s new rehabilitation unit to an Idaho version of St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Center in Spokane.

“Since we converted the beds in our hospital to an inpatient rehabilitation unit, we’re acting much like St. Luke’s. But we started offering this service because we felt like it was a continued need here across the border,” she said.

According to Ambrose, the new unit will provide specialized rehabilitative care to more than 300 patients annually.

“We’ve successfully incorporated the rehabilitation unit seamlessly into our facility,” she said. “We want to ensure that more patients have timely access to high-quality, rehabilitative care so they can maximize their recoveries, achieve optimal outcomes and ultimately regain independence and quality of life.”

Since opening in 2006, the hospital acted like an ICU for patients who needed to be on a ventilator or tracheostomy device for extended periods of time. As capacity for these services increased at nearby short-term acute care hospitals, demand lowered. Meanwhile, the need for rehabilitative care once those patients wake increased, Ambrose said.

Nearby Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest already operates 30 rehabilitation beds in Post Falls. NIACH’s rehabilitation adds 17 rehabilitation beds to the area.

Both hospitals are owned by Ernest Health, a for-profit chain of rehabilitation and long-term acute care hospitals in the United States. The network operates 35 hospitals in 13 states.

“Bringing additional inpatient rehabilitative care to our Post Falls campus is a meaningful step forward in how we serve this region,” Ernest Health CEO Jake Socha said in a statement.

Patients in the new unit will require a greater level of oversight than the rest of the hospital while receiving intensive physical therapy. Created by reconfiguring existing areas within the facility, the new unit includes a 3,700-square-foot therapy space for physical therapy, which includes a therapy pool and outdoor courtyard.

A primary diagnosis that could land someone in the rehabilitation unit includes stroke, amputation, brain injury and more serious injuries to joints and bones.

Admission to the unit generally lasts for two weeks and acts as a bridge between the emergency room and discharge. Those within the unit receive a minimum of 15 hours a week of physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Ambrose said she expects the majority of their patients to come from Kootenai Health, but some may be transferred from Sacred Heart, Deaconess or Valley Hospitals.

“In the short time we’ve had the unit, we have exceeded our goals for admissions. That tells us there is a continued need. Despite the fact that we have St. Luke’s in Spokane and our sister hospital, there is still a need. And we see patients from Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and even as far as Montana,” she said.