Patient’s Age: 71
Admission Date: 7/17/18
Admitted From: Morristown Medical Center
Discharged to: Will be Home
Length of Stay: TBD
Reason for Stay: Right femur fracture
How did patient hear about Chatham Hills? Hospital referral and location.

Details of experience:

It was Friday the 13th when Judy returned from her vacation in Alaska and was out and about in the town to pick up a few things from the store. While walking out of the back entrance of a novelty store, she tripped and took a hard fall on a handicap ramp. When she fell, she stated, “I knew I had done some type of damage to myself.”

Judy was rushed to the trauma unit of the emergency room at Morristown Medical Center. She suffered from a right femur fracture and needed to be operated on immediately. After a successful operation, she had to be monitored for four days. She was unable to walk and was told she needed further therapy at a subacute rehabilitation. After given a list of places she could go and recalling that she had volunteered here 20 years ago, she thought Chatham Hills Subacute Care Center was the perfect fit for her.

Upon admission to Chatham Hills, Judy was greeted by various highly-trained staff members. Judy was very impressed with the delightful and positive staff. She was evaluated by our incredible therapy team to determine how much therapy she was going to need. During her evaluation, she demonstrated excellent rehab potential as evidenced by her positivity and willingness to participate fully in therapy.

Judy’s goal upon entering our therapy gym for the first time was, “to learn how to move around, what exercises I can do to get better, and how to compensate so that I can go home soon.” Participating in therapy six days a week, Judy was quickly improving. There was just one slight setback: pain during functional activities. She was at constant risk for increased pain and dependency on caregivers as well as decreased participation with functional tasks. Working side-by-side with her favorite therapists, Judy knew she had to keep going.

On July 18th, 2018, she could only walk 15 feet with contact guard assistance. She also presented with impaired balance and increased need for assistance in order to perform ADL’s (activities of daily living) safely and independently. Judy has been working hard every day at progressive resistance exercises, stair negotiation training, strengthening activities to increase her functional task performance, etc. Judy is now able to ambulate 150 feet, ascend/descend 4 steps and stand during ADL’s without support and without loss of balance!

During her stay at Chatham Hills, Judy not only participated in therapy but also attended different activities. She enjoyed relaxing during dinner and movie nights, art and craft classes and reading independently. She also had a great roommate with whom she became friends.

Our Director of Concierge Services visited Judy daily to see how her stay was going. She was very satisfied with how she was improving. Judy stated to her, “When I had my accident, I felt like I wasn’t in my world anymore, but then I got to meet everyone. I have to say therapy has been outstanding. I had a goal to be able to, within eight days, walk independently. The physical therapy staff did everything they could to get me to walk again. Although I’m not totally independent yet, I am able to walk with a walker after just eight days. Their programs and smiles gave me that extra special something to continue improving. My therapist, Jeff (physical therapist) and Michelle (occupational therapist), were great with me right away. The nurses were exceptionally kind, especially the day nurses. My nurses Lori and Lou and my aide, Jennifer, were always positive, smiling and more than willing to listen to what I had to say. The management staff here is also all good-looking! They are always dressed nicely and everyone’s always happy. I also had a great roommate here, we even exchanged phone numbers!”

Nearing her discharge date, Team Chatham Hills is thrilled to congratulate Judy on her tremendous progress and consistent growth to return back home to her husband!