Services Offered in a Long Term Care Hospital
Long term care hospitals offer the same level of care you would receive in a traditional hospital or intensive care unit, but over a longer amount of time. This is a much higher level of specialized care than the care provided in a skilled nursing or inpatient rehabilitation facility. Patients typically have around-the-clock access to physician services. Other typical services include:
- 24-hour nursing care from an all-registered nurse certified staff
- Respiratory care
- Ventilator care
- Complex wound care
- Intravenous antibiotics (IV therapy)
- Physical, occupations and speech therapy
- On-site pharmacy, diagnostic radiology and lab services
- On-site dialysis
What types of patients and conditions are treated in a long-term care hospital?
Patients with a need for intensive medical care over a period greater than 25 days are typically sent to a long-term care hospital before they are well enough to return home or go to rehab. These medically complex diagnoses and conditions include but are not limited to:
- Neurological or post-trauma conditions (such as stroke, spinal cord, traumatic brain injury, paralysis or dysphagia)
- Conditions requiring mechanical ventilation or ventilator weaning (respiratory and heart failures, emphysema, pneumonia or COPD)
- Complex wound care (such as burns or pressure-related)
- Conditions resulting in organ failure
- Severe infections (such as sepsis or infectious diseases)
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