Rehabilitation Unit Opens in Springdale

Springdale’s Northwest Medical Center announced recently the opening of its inpatient rehabilitation unit, giving that facility the region’s only comprehensive rehab program.

Dr. Wayne Brooks, a board-certified physiatrist — that’s a physician who specializes in physical medicine — says the program has actually been in place for a year.

But Medicare requirements are such that the program couldn’t be certified for payment until it had been open for 12 months, he explains. The majority of patients in the unit are expected to be Medicare patients, although, eventually, Brooks hopes to also serve children who otherwise are treated in Little Rock or at other distant locations.

Brooks says an inpatient rehab unit is convenient to physicians and patients alike because all the services of an acute-care hospital are always available.

“If someone needs a surgical consult, we can do it right here. If someone needs emergency services, we can do it here. If someone needs X-rays, that’s also available,” Brooks says.

The unit may be of particular use for patients who have suffered strokes, multiple traumas or orthopedic injuries, Brooks says.

“We do all aspects of therapy — physical, speech and occupational — along with all the other aspects of care you’ll find in an acute-care hospital,” he explains.

The unit has 17 beds, all of which were occupied in mid-July, and, Brooks says, there was a waiting list for possible patients. He hopes to eventually expand the unit to allow for more patients.