Patients who have orthopedic surgery at Bethesda North Hospital may need rehabilitation or therapy during and/or after their hospital stay. The services most commonly accessed by our patients include:

Physical Therapy

It is important to your recovery that you begin moving very soon after orthopedic surgery. Physical therapy is an essential part of your recovery. Our staff members strive to provide safe, effective and appropriate care that is focused on maintaining comfort, minimizing the potential for infection, maintaining self esteem and providing support for patients and their families. Our focus is to improve patients’ functional movement through evaluations and individualized treatment plans that may include:

• Patient education
• Posture/body mechanics training
• Approaches to pain reduction
• Aquatic therapy
• Massage
• Soft tissue mobilization
• Flexibility and strengthening exercises
• Balance and coordination training
• Gait and functional training

You will have therapy while at Bethesda North. Your doctor will prescribe how often and when you can begin your therapy.

Once you are discharged from the hospital, you will be asked to continue sessions on an outpatient basis. Your care coordinator will help arrange your initial appointment at a location convenient for you. TriHealth offers six convenient outpatient physical therapy centers throughout Greater Cincinnati. At TriHealth’s outpatient physical therapy centers, patients are treated each visit by highly trained licensed physical therapy staff.

For patients who have had hand or wrist surgery, TriHealth also offers two hand rehabilitation centers. If you need the therapist to come into your home, let your care coordinator know before you leave the hospital. At TriHealth’s hand rehabilitation centers, patients are treated each visit by highly trained certified hand therapists and experienced occupational therapists.

Patients are expected to attend all physical therapy and hand rehabilitation sessions unless a medical condition prohibits it. Continuing to do the exercises you learn in physical therapy/hand rehabilitation is important to recovery.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is skilled therapy that helps patients achieve independence in all facets of life. It gives the “skills for the job of living” that are necessary to lead an independent and satisfying life.

While at Bethesda North, orthopedic surgery patients may have sessions with an occupational therapist that may include:

• Customized treatment to improve the ability to perform daily activities (eating, grooming, bathing, dressing) as well as home management (shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, finances)
• Adaptive equipment recommendations and usage training
• Hand, visual perception, and functional cognition therapy
• Functional mobility including transfer training, wheelchair mobility training, and custom seating and wheelchair evaluation recommendations

In addition, the occupational therapist will review activity restrictions that are necessary following surgery and provide training for family members and caregivers. It is important that the person who is providing in-home care attends these sessions prior to discharge, as they are vital to the recovery process.

Exercise and Functional Activity Programs

For those patients who were accustomed to an active lifestyle prior to orthopedic surgery and would like to continue those activities afterwards, TriHealth offers several exercise and functional activity programs. These include the Post-Rehab Program and the MAP Program, which helps golfers recovering from orthopedic surgery return to the game safely and effectively.

Post-Rehab Program

The TriHealth Fitness and Health Pavilion offers a Post-Rehab Program to advance a patient from medically prescribed physical therapy to supervised exercise with a certified athletic trainer.

The program encourages members to achieve their individual goals and needs with independence as the number one objective. Programs are geared towards patient’s goals and needs which can be tailored to water or land opportunities taking the physician and therapist’s recommendations into consideration.

In addition to the usual Pavilion membership benefits, post-rehab participants also receive three months of individualized instruction from a certified athletic trainer. And as a benefit of completing the program, participants can easily transition to general membership status without paying the additional enrollment fee.

To enroll in the program, a prospective client must:

• Apply within 60 days of completion of rehabilitation
• Obtain completed consultation forms from physician and therapist

The forms can be picked up at the Pavilion’s members’ services office or easily downloaded online.

Once the necessary paperwork is completed, prospective clients can sign up at member services to enroll in the post-rehab program. At that time, they complete a medical health history form and pay a three-month program fee of $295. One of the certified athletic trainers will follow up to set up the initial appointment.

To learn more about the TriHealth Fitness and Health Pavilion’s Post-Rehab Program, call (513) 985-6711 or visit the Pavilion's Web site.

Maximize Athletic Performance for Golf (MAP) Program

The MAP Program is offered at Good Samaritan Physical Therapy at Union Centre in West Chester. It is beneficial for orthopedic surgery, especially joint replacement, patients who golf and want to return to the game safely and effectively. It also is helpful for golfers who notice joint or back pain when playing the game.

Key elements of the MAP Program include:

• A complete review of your current golf game experience and what you feel you need to enjoy your game more
• An evaluation of your balance, strength and range of motion
• A video swing analysis to relate your physical evaluation findings to your golf swing

The Map Program may be covered by insurance as part of a rehabilitation program. You do not need a doctor's referral to enroll. For more information, call (513) 862-5790.