Post-ICU Care

The case manager/social worker at Kaiser should have good advice about locations for post-ICU care, as might Bill's primary care physician or his hospital physicians. Kaiser itself might have something to offer. Potential next steps, depending on his current condition, might be:

1. Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. Very high rankings from US News & World Report for medical rehabilitation. Affiliated with USC, assigns interdisciplinary teams to each patient. www.rancho.org/ServiceRecovery_Med.aspx or 562-401-7611.

2. Cedars-Sinai in LA, though their medical rehabilitation department sounds small. www.cedars-sinai.edu/Patients/Programs-and-Services/Medical-Rehabilitation/ or 310-423-4036.

3. UCLA Medical Center Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation (www.rehab.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=30 or 310-825-0014) or UCLA Medical Center Inpatient Acute Care (this is apparently the next step down from ICU - www.rehab.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=31 or 310-825-5650). UCLA Med Ctr is ranked number one in the nation in many sources.

4. My hospital-administrator friend had very good results with Flagship Healthcare Center in Newport Beach, which is across the street from Hoag Memorial Hospital. It's a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility for long-term or short-term sub-acute care. 949-642-8044, leave message as they all participate in care but return calls quickly.

General info: Each place will want details about Bill's medical condition to find out whether they can offer what he needs. Usually, they will call his current hospital to get that info, and if it sounds like a good match, they will come out to the hospital and evaluate him personally. Check his secondary insurance--Medicare only pays for 30 days rehab, and these places can be expensive. I like places with quick easy access to an ICU or ER just in case, and #2-4 meet that criterion, probably #1 also though I haven't been able to verify. Convenient location for close family is also important in longer-term care. There are "care managers" that can be hired to help with this sort of planning; the social worker at Kaiser should be able to recommend someone if you want.

Janet