GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Mary Free Bed’s ReCOVery Unit is in operation for the third time because of the significant recent surge of COVID-19 patients in West Michigan hospitals.
The dedicated unit is for patients who need intensive inpatient rehabilitation and have recently tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release Thursday.
This 11-bed unit is in a physically isolated area of Mary Free Bed’s main campus hospital. All Centers for Disease Control and Prevention precautions and more are being followed.
Team members focus on cognition, deconditioning, respiratory function, neurologic injury and other conditions associated with the virus.
“We’re seeing younger patients on average than we treated last spring or fall,” said Dr. Ralph Wang, lead rehabilitation physician for the ReCOVery Unit. “With targeted therapy and a better understanding of the disease, we’re confident that rehabilitation will help bring about the best recovery possible.”
ReCOVery also offers outpatient services in-person and virtually to help patients recovering at home from COVID-19 symptoms, including those affected by persistent symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has cleared – a condition some call “long haul COVID.”
Depending on each patient’s needs, teams include physical and occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, respiratory therapists, psychologists, pain specialists and nutritionists.
SEE MORE: CORONAVIRUS IN WEST MICHIGAN