Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest, a freestanding, acute-rehabilitation facility in Post Falls, is offering Kootenai County’s only inpatient treatment for rehabilitating patients, something it says residents previously had to travel longer for. 

The 30-bed facility saw its first patient on Dec. 16, says hospital CEO David Cox. All of the therapy is inpatient, Cox says, which means patients stay at the facility for the course of their treatment. 

The about 34,000-square-foot hospital is located at 3372 E. Jenalan in Post Falls. Ground was broken for the $13 million building last February and construction and the final inspection were completed in November. 

The hospital, which employs 102 people, is a joint venture between Albuquerque, N.M.-based Ernest Health Inc. and Coeur d’Alene-based Kootenai Health. Cox says Kootenai Health is a 25 percent investor in the hospital, and retains one seat on its five-person board of directors, but doesn’t own any branding rights in the hospital. 

Acute rehabilitation uses a team of clinicians to maximize the recovery process for patients who have functional issues because of an illness or injury. The goal of inpatient rehabilitation treatment is to help the patient return to independent function, learn about safe home practices, improve quality of life, and re-integrate into their community. 

Cox says that Kootenai Health and Ernest Health had discussed the idea of a post-acute rehabilitation hospital for years, ever since Ernest Health opened North Idaho Advanced Care Hospital in Post Falls in 2006.

“It was always in the back of Ernest Health’s mind, since NIACH opened its doors,” Cox says. “It was multiple years of sharing ideas and thoughts and visions that finally came to fruition in February 2013.”

The facility receives patients primarily on a referral basis, Cox says, with Kootenai Health as its primary source, followed by Deaconess Hospital in Spokane and Valley Hospital in Spokane Valley, and then North Idaho Advanced Care Hospital. 

Ernest Health, Cox says, decided to build the hospital in Post Falls because the company actively looks for small communities that already have an acute hospital but have a need for rehabilitation facilities. 

As of late last month, the hospital had 20 beds occupied, Cox says, and it had been averaging between 18 and 19 daily. Cox says patients usually stay at the facility for 12 to 14 days. So far, he estimates the facility has treated about 125 patients, ranging in age from 17 to 94. The patient population, however, tends to skew toward the elderly, he says. 

Patients who the hospital rehabilitates typically come there after having been at an acute-care hospital for conditions such as spinal cord injuries, stroke, joint replacements, amputations, and pulmonary dysfunction. Cox says the most prevalent is stroke, followed by pulmonary issues. 

The rehabilitation hospital’s main goal is to ensure that patients are prepared to transition back to home life, Cox says.  

“Our primary focus is to make sure once our patients are admitted, we’re discharging to home,” he says. 

Patients have a minimum of three hours of therapy a day, Cox says. That’s more than is required at skilled-nursing facilities, which is one of the reasons why a stay at the rehab hospital is shorter than the average skilled-nursing stay, he says. 

“The reason our length of stay is shorter is that it’s more intensive (therapy),” Cox says. 

After the three-hour minimum therapy, patients don’t just go sit in their rooms, Cox says. Patients practice the skills learned in therapy in their rooms with the assistance of rehabilitation nurses, Cox says, making the treatment “a 24/7 approach to rehab.”

Patients work with a variety of specialists at the facility including occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, respiratory therapists, rehabilitation nurses, and pharmacists. Patients may have aquatic therapy in the hospital’s pool, or may work on walking, balance, grooming, or other life skills.

In addition to the therapy pool, the facility has a therapy gym, a cafeteria where all patients eat their meals, a day room with a computer, an in-house pharmacy, a classroom that’s used for both staff and patient education, and a transitional suite. The transitional suite is more like a real bedroom and is used to transition patients who are to be discharged back home soon, Cox says. 

He says the facility also is in the process of developing a neurological recovery team to specialize in rehabilitating patients who have suffered brain injuries. It also has a speech therapist who’s certified in VitalStim therapy, which uses electric pulses to encourage swallowing and speech in patients who’ve lost those functions, he says. 

The facility’s occupational therapists are specifically trained in what’s known as higher skills. These living skills include getting in and out of bed, using a restroom, cooking meals, and driving. 

To be admitted to the rehabilitation hospital, a patient must first be referred by an acute-care hospital. Then, a liaison from Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest  does an evaluation to determine if the patient is right for the facility. The liaison then presents the case to an admissions team at the rehab hospital. If the patient is accepted, his or her insurance provider is contacted to see what coverage options are available. Cox says Medicare patients currently don’t require pre-authorization. The hospital also is in the process of reaching out to other insurance companies  to contract with, he says. 

Cox says that Rehabilitation Hospital of the Northwest doesn’t see itself as directly in competition with the 102-bed St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, of Spokane. 

“We both serve the community,” he says. “We’re not asking Spokane residents to come 25 miles to rehab.”

Looking toward the future, Cox says one long-range goal is to begin providing outpatient rehabilitation services. He says offering more services will help the facility achieve another of its goals, which is to provide area residents a full range of rehabilitation services close to home. 

“We talk a lot about keeping Idaho patients in Idaho,” he says. “We want to keep patients from having to go to Spokane.”

Ernest Health owns and operates rehabilitation and other post-acute facilities in Idaho, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas,  and South Carolina.