The Northwest Specialty Hospital at the INTEGRIS Bass Pavilion continues to fill a special health care need in the community.  The hospital treats patients with serious and often complex medical conditions such as respiratory failure, neuromuscular disorders, cardiac disorders, non-healing wounds and any medical complications requiring acute care for an extended period of time. Other services provided are respiratory, physical and occupational therapy, radiology and laboratory.

The hospital, which is sometimes referred to as a Long Term Acute Care Hospital or LTACH, is a 24-bed hospital housed on the second floor of the Bass Pavilion and is the only facility of its kind in this part of the state.

One of the reasons the facility has been so successful is its individualized approach to patient care.

“One thing that sets us apart is our truly interdisciplinary approach to caring for our patients. We utilize each of our professionals for their skills and knowledge related to their particular discipline,”  said Denisa Ketterman, Clinical Director of the Northwest Specialty Hospital.

“It's not just nurses and doctors, it's physical therapists, dietitians, respiratory therapists, wound care experts, etc,” she said.

When a patient arrives at LTACH they are examined by all related disciplines and a plan of care for each patient is created based on each team member's findings.

This type of care has proven successful for the hospital and is valued by the patients, as evidenced by positive patient outcomes and high patient satisfaction rates.

“Our patients tend to leave the facility very satisfied with the care they have received and often request to come back next time they are hospitalized,” she said. 

One of the most important components to the Northwest Specialty Hospital is that of the physicians.

“Our admitting physicians include family practice, internal medicine, and pulmonologist as well as the availability of specialty physicians as needed for consultation,”  Ketterman said.

Since opening in May of 2001, LTACH has seen a steady increase in the number of patients.

Patients are generally admitted from hospitals, directly from home or another type of health care facility.

Admission Criteria Include:

• Cardiac patient that require on-going monitoring
• Patients with medical complications requiring acute care for an
  extended period of time
• Patients with respiratory infections and disorder, including
  ventilation support
• Patients that have been evaluated, assessed, and determined to
  need an acute level of care with a medical acuity expectation

Service Features:

• 24 hour RN Care
• Respiratory therapy
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy
• Radiology
• Laboratory