Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals

Acute Care

HealthSouth's long-term acute care hospitals (LTCH) specialize in managing the complex medical care and rehabilitation of patients with multiple acute healthcare needs. Programs are designed to medically stabilize and strengthen patients so they can return to their highest level of function. A patient's average length of stay is between 25 and 30 days.

HealthSouth's LTCH hospitals offer the clinical, technical and professional resources necessary to provide individualized care that promotes progress toward recovery. Our specialized, multidisciplinary team approach to patient care focuses on the unique needs of each patient. All patients receive 24-hour nursing and respiratory care, as well as care by their attending physicians and specialists, as needed. Patients also receive physical, occupational and speech therapies, as appropriate.

Types of patients served in a LTCH hospital

LTCH hospitals are equipped to treat a wide range of patients. Patients can be admitted from a variety of settings, including directly from home. The following are some of the more common types of medical conditions appropriate for an LTCH:

  • Respiratory conditions, including ventilator support
  • Wound and skin conditions
  • Circulatory disorders with varying medical complexity
  • Digestive system disorders of varying complexity
  • Stroke patients as an alternative to nursing home setting
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Congestive heart failure
  • Renal failure requiring hemodialysis
  • Neurological disease and complications

LTCH Specialty Programs

Many of our LTCH hospitals have developed specialty programs to serve the needs of patients with extended lengths of stay. The following are examples of specialty programs used in LTCH hospitals:

Medical Program

Provides services to patients requiring multidisciplinary medical services following an acute hospital stay. Examples of
patients include those who require IV therapy, dialysis or nutritional therapy; and patients with cardiovascular or gastrointestinal disease.

Wound Care Program

Provides services for patients recuperating from serious wound complications. Post-surgical wounds and pressure ulcers are common diagnoses of these types of patients.

Pulmonary/Ventilator Management Program

Provides services to patients who are intubated (oral or tracheostomy), ventilator dependent or who require mechanical support to maintain normal breathing. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory failure, ALS and pneumonia are typical diagnoses in this program.

Low Tolerance Rehabilitation Program

Provides services to patients with a rehabilitation diagnosis who, because of a medically complex condition, are expected to have a long length of stay. Stroke, head and spinal cord injuries, amputation, trauma and cardiovascular disease are among the diagnoses most commonly treated in this program.