When it comes to choosing a short-term rehabilitation community, a patient's foremost concern should be outcomes: How thoroughly will I recover, and how soon will I be able to go home?
But many more factors typically go into the decision-making process ... and to Mary Belknap, all those should lead every patient, without question, to WesleyLife.
Mary rehabilitated at Edgewater, WesleyLife's community in West Des Moines, and is grateful for the care she received.
"There's simply no better choice in the area," Mary said. "The therapists are more wonderful than you could ever imagine. People really shouldn't think twice about coming here."
Mary should know; she recently finished her third short-term rehab stay at Edgewater. During the first two, she came to Edgewater from outside the community; she and her husband, Dale, were living in their home in Johnston when she had two knee-replacement surgeries, and she'd heard good things about Edgewater; she assumed she'd receive good care, and she was pleased.
But before the most recent surgery, in late June, the couple already had moved into independent living at Edgewater. So Mary was glad to be able to plan to rehabilitate "at home" -- in another area of the campus. That choice proved a good one for both Belknaps, with Mary receiving the level of care she'd come to expect, and Dale having the convenience of visiting his wife just a few hundred yards from home.
"She was able to come back here and eat in the dining room every night, and that boosted her spirits, and for me personally, having her so close made the whole thing easier in every possible way," Dale said. "No concerns about travel time or inclement weather or quality of care -- no concerns, period. We were both very happy."
Mary said Edgewater's rehabilitative care stands out to her because of the quality of the physical and occupational therapists in particular -- but also because of WesleyLife's network of services. When she finished short-term rehabilitation, her team of therapists helped her transition back to her apartment and to the WesleyLife Home Health team that would take over Phase II of her recovery.
"They brought me up to the apartment and made arrangements in the bedroom and bathroom to help with accessibility, and the transition was absolutely seamless," Mary said. "Everyone involved has been so caring. Honestly, even though this is going to sound unbelievable, I consider them all my friends. I have never received such wonderful care from such wonderful people."
After Mary finishes receiving home health care to assist with her recovery, she'll return to rehabilitation as an outpatient to make sure she continues to build strength in her affected foot, and to help enhance her health, strength, balance, and flexibility overall. That continuity of care is something Dale has appreciated and would recommend to anyone looking for a short-term rehabilitation community.
"When you compare places to rehabilitate, there are differentiators people need to understand: Therapy is necessary to any recovery, and the quality of that therapy makes all the difference," he said. "They also need to understand specifically the differences between physical and occupational therapy, and that getting you reacclimated to your surroundings makes such a difference as well. Through the process, we've seen such competent and caring people."
Mary laughed as she shared how excited she is to begin outpatient therapy.
"I can't wait to go down and be with my friends!" she said. "They made this experience such a joy for me -- and how often to you hear 'surgery,' 'recovery,' and 'joy' in the same sentence?"
To learn more about short-term rehabilitation at any of WesleyLife's Communities for Healthy Living, visit wesleylife.org/rehab-and-nursing, or call (515) 978-2777.
