BREAKING NEWS
From left, certified nursing assistant Crystalynn Stone, coordinator Pamela Kenney and hospital president Judy Gizinski greet visitors Jan. 21 at the grand opening for the Center for Joint Replacement at Palm Bay Hospital.
PALM BAY, FLORIDA – Up until now, choices for patients facing joint replacement surgery in Brevard County have been limited and involved lengthy and painful stays in both hospitals and rehab facilities.
All of that has changed with the opening of The Center for Joint Replacement at Palm Bay Hospital in November and the facility’s gala ribbon cutting and grand-opening event Jan. 21.
The center is a specialized unit with 19 private rooms on the hospital’s second floor which promotes quick and successful recoveries in a setting that is as close to being at home as possible.
“Nobody else in Brevard County offers what we do,” said Pamela Kenney, a registered nurse who is the coordinator for The Center for Joint Replacement. “Our goal is to help patients feel as normal as possible before they leave here and ready to resume active lives free of pain and suffering.”
She said the center has taken specific steps to encourage and promote faster healing, including group rehabilitation sessions using personal coaches; patients wearing their own clothes rather than the customary hospital gowns; rooms furnished to resemble a hotel featuring hardwood floors; group meals eaten together; and an array of personalized services like cookies baked daily, food actually served on china and beautiful floral displays in every room.
CHECKING IN
Patients check in at a concierge desk on Mondays and are ushered to their private rooms where they are checked in individually, thus avoiding the typical lengthy registration process.
From that point on, Kenney said The Center’s team of eight nurses, orthopedic surgeons Dr. Anthony Lombardo and Dr. Gonzalo Valdivia, two certified nursing assistants and
A unique progress board lets patients at The Center for Joint Replacement monitor each other's rehabilitation success.
a number of therapists, technicians and volunteers work in concert with one objective — to get patients up and walking and back at home within three days following their surgery without a stay at another rehab facility.
“The families become active participants in the recovery process and serve as coaches during rehabilitation which is offered right here on the same floor,” Kenney said. “It brings everyone together in one setting solely focused on returning patients to everyday life quicker than ever before.”
Crystalynn Stone, a certified nursing assistant at The Center, said she enjoys getting to know the patients and watching them return to health.
“We have a great staff and take great pride in getting to know every patient,” she said. “They become family. We are helping people to get better and changing people’s lives.”
REWARDING
Stone said it’s rewarding to see someone seeking a hip replacement or knee replacement come to the center barely walking and then leaving with a smile on their face.
“It doesn’t always happen in a hospital setting, but you really see it here,” she said. “It’s a total transformation.”
Kenney said every detail of a patient’s treatment plan, starting before surgery and even after they return home are coordinated closely between the patient and the staff. And working as a team with all the other patients at The Center provides a support network that motivates and inspires healing.
“Nobody gets left behind,” Kenney said. “We even have a special board that all patients can review to record everyone’s progress and it shows how far everyone has been able to walk following surgery. They all pull together as a group to keep everybody on track.”
Special touches like decorative towels and hardwood floors give The Center for Joint Replacement a cozy feel.
She said about 65 patients have been treated at The Center since November and the response from them has been overwhelming.
“I have worked at this hospital on another unit for almost five years and have never had a patient come back to show me how well they’re doing,” she said. “They are coming back here week after week to visit and see us and it’s all quite amazing.”
VALUABLE SERVICE
Palm Bay Hospital president and chief executive officer Judy Gizinski said she believes The Center for Joint Replacement will prove to be a valuable service offered by the hospital to the community.
“We are so proud of everyone associated with the center,” she said. “We are providing exceptional quality of care here for each individual patient and our goal is to be the finest facility performing joint replacement in Brevard County.”
For information about The Center for Joint Replacement at Palm Bay Hospital, call 321-434-8097.
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