Transitional Care

At some point, many of us have to spend time in the hospital for an illness or surgery.    While you can get many of your health care needs met locally, there are services that you can only get in a larger city. What if you have made progress in the large hospital, but still need some additional time for physical, occupational, or speech therapy “rehab”, under the watchful eye of a full hospital-based care team?  What if you have other medical conditions that have made your full recovery more challenging and you need daily skilled support from a nurse?  Wouldn’t it be great if you could stay for a short time, in a place close to home, that provides high quality therapy services, industry-leading nurse staffing hours per patient, an on-site provider and full hospital resource support?  The good news is, now you can!

Magruder now offers a Transitional Care program (formerly known as the swing bed program).   Here are some common questions and answers to help you understand how transitional care can help you or a family member.

What exactly is “Transitional Care”?

Transitional Care is a high quality, evidence-based program for patients who are well enough to leave a traditional hospital setting but still have nursing, therapy, or respiratory needs that may not be optimally met in their homes or skilled nursing facilities.  Some examples of these needs would include frequent intravenous medications, wound care, breathing treatments, frequent nursing assessments and treatment adjustments, or intensive physical, occupational, or speech therapy.

What makes the program different?

The program is designed to provide access to high quality post-acute services in familiar, easy to navigate rural hospitals.  As a rural hospital, we offer many supportive services that other post-acute settings cannot, such as an on-site physician, respiratory therapy, lab and radiology, and two to three times more available nursing hours per patient than most skilled nursing facilities.  These factors make Magruder one of the best choices for patients who have complex needs, multiple conditions, or other factors that make their recovery more challenging.

Who can use the Transitional Care Program?

Most patients receiving this care at Magruder will be covered by the Medicare Swing Bed reimbursement program, although other insurers may participate as well.  In general, traditional Medicare patients may need to have a three day qualifying hospital stay before being admitted for Transitional Care, and have a need for skilled nursing or therapy services. Other payer sources such as Medicare Advantage products, commercial insurance, and/or private pay may not require the 3 day inpatient hospitalization. Our Magruder team will verify your benefit prior to admission.

Will this program affect Magruder’s ability to take care of regular hospital patients?

In short, no.  We can determine how many Transitional Care patients to admit at any given time, so we will be able to guarantee that the program will not limit our ability to take care of the day-to-day needs of our local patients, yet still take full advantage of the capacity of our facility and staff.

If you have any questions or would like information about the Transitional Care Program,  please contact the Transitional Care Coordinator at 419-734-3131 ext 3654.