Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation

• Amputation
• Brain injury
• Cancer
• Major injury, trauma  and surgery
• Neurological diseases
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke

Our physical rehabilitation team includes experienced clinicians representing a wide range of specialties, including:

Physiatrists
Board-certified physicians in physical medicine and rehabilitation who direct your overall medical care.

Physical Therapists and PT Assistants
Movement specialists who optimize your strength, mobility, balance, and endurance. Many of our PTs are certified brain injury specialists or hold additional specialty certifications in stroke and rehabilitation. PT Assistants also work with you to meet your movement goals.

Occupational Therapists and OT Assistants
Clinicians who help you regain skills and learn strategies needed to perform daily activities like dressing, bathing, grooming, and eating. OT Assistants will also help support you as you relearn adaptive skills to get back to daily life.

Speech Language Pathologists
Experts in language, cognition, and communication skills who can also help anyone who may need to improve swallowing function.

Case Managers and Social Workers
Members of our team who coordinate discharge and help to identify the appropriate destination, facilitate any necessary medical and rehabilitation services and equipment, and share community resources that may help.

Rehabilitation Psychologists
Professionals who offer counseling to help you understand and cope with the many changes you will experience both during rehabilitation and after discharge.

Dieticians
Team members who are licensed to provide a nutritional plan designed to help regain your strength, which may include supplements or texture modifications and/or special diets.

Rehabilitation Nurses
Our team has 24/7 care from nurses and nursing assistants who help with medications, self-care, and reinforce your therapy goals.

Therapeutic Recreation
Teach adaptive skills for wellness or hobbies and leisure activities, such as crafts, gardening, and sports.

Pharmacists
Work closely with you, your physician, nurses and therapists to ensure that your medication needs are met to get the most out of your time with us.

Meet Our Care Team

• Donald Arthur, MD
• Joseph Mallory, MD
• Adam Bradford, DO
• Christian van Doren, DO
• Justin L. Weppner, DO
• Holley Perkins, NP
• Katherine Chrisfield, NP
• Steven Miles, PA

1. Who gets to go to Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation?

Every single member of our team at Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation – from the clinical liaisons who may meet with you at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, to the nursing staff that help you get settled and the rehabilitation specialists who manage your care and treatment – is focused on providing you with an exceptional rehabilitation experience.

The process for admission to Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation starts with identifying someone who could benefit - someone who needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, and possibly speech therapy to improve their function. This is usually done by physicians, therapists, or discharge planners (social workers, case managers) at a hospital. In some cases, patients may come to us directly from home. Candidates for Carilion Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation must demonstrate active participation with those therapies during their hospital stay, and they must be able to participate in and benefit from three hours of therapy a day, five days per week (or 15 hours a week as tolerated) once they are admitted to Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation.

Once that candidate has been identified, our inpatient physical rehabilitation liaisons are notified so that they can carefully review medical records and rehabilitation needs to determine whether admission to Carilion Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation is appropriate.

Our clinical liaisons also help with insurance authorizations and coordinate patient transfer to our hospital. If possible, they will meet with you and your family to discuss admission, answer questions, and help expedite the review process. If you believe that you or your loved one would benefit from inpatient physical rehabilitation, feel free to reach out to our liaisons at 540-981-8485 or fax information to 540-981-8320.

2. How many beds are at Carilion Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation?

We are a 33-bed facility, including a limited access, five-bed brain injury unit.

3. How long do patients usually stay at Carilion Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation?

Patients generally stay with us for between 10-14 days, though some may have shorter visits and some may have longer, depending on how they progress through the program.

4. What does a typical day look like?

A typical day at Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation facility begins with our friendly nursing staff greeting you and bringing you whatever morning medications you may need. Breakfast is served at 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. Occupational therapy or speech therapy may be present to assist as needed or provide strategies for swallowing and/or eating. Our wonderful patient care technicians will assist with dressing and getting cleaned up, and therapy will generally start around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. Most patients receive a combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, each of which is scheduled individually, one-on-one with your therapist throughout your day. There will be a break for lunch around noon, and then any remaining therapies are completed in the afternoon. Dinner is usually served between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. before you settle in for the evening.

5. Will my insurance cover my stay at Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation?

Medicare generally covers inpatient physical rehabilitation stays. You will need to pay your Medicare Part A deductible and coinsurance. Medicare supplemental insurance policies may require prior authorization, but some will cover part or all your deductible and coinsurance, so check your insurance coverage. Private insurance coverage for care varies.

6. Why choose Carilion Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation over a skilled nursing facility (SNF)?

While both inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities and skilled nursing facilities provide care for patients after a hospital stay, research has shown that patients who received care at inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities - like Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation - tend to live longer, spend more days at home and fewer in healthcare institutions, have fewer emergency room visits, and fewer re-hospitalizations than those who received care at skilled nursing facilities*.

This is due, in part, to the difference in expectations regarding therapy for inpatient physical rehabilitation versus skilled nursing. Both skilled nursing facilities and inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities offer a team approach to rehabilitative care, but differ significantly in the intensity of their care and rehabilitation treatments. All patients at Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation must be able to participate in and benefit from three hours of therapy a day, five days per week (or 15 hours a week as tolerated), whereas skilled nursing facilities may provide therapy three times a week for an hour per session.

Due to the intensity of therapy at inpatient physical rehabilitation, the length of stay is generally shorter than that of a skilled nursing facility. Most patients will complete inpatient physical rehabilitation within 10-14 days, whereas skilled nursing facilities generally keep patients for 4 weeks or more. A patient at an inpatient physical rehabilitation facility may be moved to a skilled nursing facility if they no longer require the intensive care offered at inpatient physical rehabilitation but are still not ready to return home.

Overall, inpatient rehabilitation facilities like Carilion’s Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation provide more options for care along with better long-term clinical outcomes than skilled nursing facilities*.

* DaVanzo JE et al. Assessment of Patient Outcomes of Rehabilitative Care Provided in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) and After Discharge. Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC. 2014.

CMS criteria for referral/admission to the unit:

1. The patient requires the active and ongoing therapeutic intervention of multiple therapy disciplines (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, or prosthetics/orthotics), one of which must be physical or occupational therapy.
2. The patient requires an intensive rehabilitation therapy program.
3. The patient demonstrates the ability to participate in an intensive rehabilitation therapy program.
4. The patient can reasonably be expected to actively participate in, and benefit significantly from, an intensive rehabilitation therapy program.
5. The patient requires physician supervision by a rehabilitation physician.

Discharge to Community (2020 data): 81%

Likelihood to Recommend our Rehabilitation Unit Highest Score = 83.87%