Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.
Summerlin Hospital Medical Center recently expanded its rehabilitation department by 17 beds, allowing new treatments and a shift in focus for its sister hospital Valley.
The Universal Health Services Inc.-owned hospital now has 46 rehab beds in private rooms and 4,000 square feet of therapy space to treat patients with orthopedic, neurological, cardiac and pulmonary conditions.
"We can do things we couldn't do before," said Kerrie Iannuccilli, a physical therapist and director of Summerlin's therapy services. She said the old gym is 600 square feet, compared with the new gym that is 3,300 square feet, which is helpful because rehab patients in a hospital setting must endure a minimum of three hours of therapy per day.
The rehab department at Summerlin opened one year after the hospital opened seven years ago, Iannuccilli said.
"That is a successful business for us," she said. "We've been full."
Summerlin Hospital's $2.7 million expanded rehabilitation department, which opened Sunday in the new patient tower, is the final phase of the hospital's 10-year master plan. The expanded department opened three years ahead of schedule.
"We've far exceeded the growth," said Jennifer Schomburg, assistant administrator for Summerlin Hospital, adding that the hospital is now looking at its future master plan. The rehabilitation addition is a "demonstration of Universal Health Services, as well as the Valley Health System in particular, put profits back into the community to serve the needs in the future."
Summerlin added a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, two assistants, a social worker, 10 registered nurses and six certified nursing assistants to care for the additional patients.
Maureen Hanifin, a registered nurse who oversees the rehab nurses and the director of patient care services at Summerlin, said despite a national nursing shortage there were no problems finding additional staff for Summerlin.
Summerlin Hospital operates one of the few remaining rehabilitation departments inside an acute-care hospital. Its sister hospital Valley Hospital Medical Center closed its 16-bed rehabilitation department Dec. 31 to make room for more medical-surgical beds, Valley spokeswoman Gretchen Papez said.
Valley's rehabilitation department will be converted to 11 private, general patient rooms, which should open in the second quarter, Papez said.
Mike Tymczyn, spokesman for the Valley Health System, said the rehabilitation department changes are part of the Valley Health System's efforts to consolidate some services and allow the four hospitals in the system to focus on the areas in which they excel.
The Valley Health System includes Desert Springs, Valley, Summerlin and Spring Valley hospitals.
This isn't the first time the hospitals have closed or shifted departments to work more as a system than as four independent hospitals.
For example, Desert Springs closed its maternity department in September 2003 to focus on cardiac services, but Spring Valley opened in October 2003 and has delivered numerous babies.
While all acute-care hospitals treat medical-surgical patients, Valley Hospital receives much of that business and therefore needed to re-evaluate its focus, which is why it closed its geriatric psychiatric department in August and its rehabilitation department last weekend, Tymczyn said.
"The rehabilitation center technically merged and moved," he said, adding that many of Valley's rehab patients were coming from the west and northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley. "They (Summerlin Hospital) have the room up there and it just made sense. It was not a financial decision in as much as Valley Hospital had more current need to keep its census up with medical-surgical beds."
Other Las Vegas Valley hospitals with inpatient rehabilitation departments include HCA Inc.'s Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center and Catholic Healthcare West's St. Rose Dominican Hospitals -- Rose de Lima Campus.
Sunrise operates a 30-bed inpatient rehab unit that stays near capacity and predominately treats patients with neurological problems such as strokes and spinal and brain injuries, said Amy Dirks Stevens, vice president of business development for HCA's Las Vegas market.
St. Rose has a 14-bed rehabilitation department that stays near capacity, hospital spokesman Andy North said.
Clark County-owned University Medical Center operates a 34-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility and HealthSouth operates 139 beds at two rehab centers, but they are all freestanding buildings outside of acute-care hospitals.
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