FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A new Skilled Nursing Unit is opening at Lee Memorial Hospital. The goal is to help with a patients overall care, but also to alleviate wait times and open up beds faster for patients.
"So we service patients, typically post-op patients who are in need of rehabilitation after a major event such as a stroke or a heart attack," said Skilled Nursing Unit admissions and marketing coordinator Christine Burns.
The Skilled Nursing Unit is the first of its kind for Lee Memorial Hospital. The unit located on the 3rd floor of its downtown hospital was previously an infusion center and recently transformed to fill a critical need.
"We are really trying to cut down on those transitions, cut down on those delay days and really manage that patient experience," said administrator Troy Churchill.
Patients may remember issues during season last year including overcrowding in emergency rooms and an overall lack of beds for patients. Lee Memorial said this new unit is expected to reduce the length of a patients stay which will help reduce overcrowding in other units.
"So we have certain patients who have certain acuity needs where they may not be able to transition to another skilled nursing facility or required level of care. So those cause a delay day and they stay up here in the hospital and as those delay days mount that causes the back ups in the emergency departments," said Churchill.
The 18 beds part of the unit were taken from other units throughout the Lee Memorial system. Unit staff said what makes this unit so unique is the fact that they can do rehabilitation while using the amenities and other services of the hospital.
The new unit is expected to open by January 13th.
