Patient Care Services
Kindred Hospitals use a multidisciplinary team approach to care that helps our patients return to the highest quality of life possible. Our patient care services include:
Pulmonary
Every respiratory patient receives a comprehensive, customized treatment plan overseen by a board-certified pulmonologist who makes rounds to review patient progress.
Our expertise has been and continues to be pulmonary disease management. Patients with complex respiratory disorders receive care based on the latest protocols, including a tailored weaning care plan.
Respiratory conditions considered for admission include, but are not limited to:
- Vent management
- Simple and complex pneumonia
- Obstructive airway disease (e.g. COPD)
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
- Acute airway needs
- Obstructive sleep apnea
Our ultimate goal with respiratory patients is to help them breathe on their own again and regain their independence.
Wound Care
Healing wounds is an important step in the recovery process. The experienced wound care professionals at Kindred Hospital Milwaukee can help you move one step closer to healing. We have developed a comprehensive in-patient Wound Care Program designed for patients requiring extensive treatment interventions.
Our wound care team is lead by a medical director and a registered nurse with specific training in wound care. Many of our patients have multi-system health complications, but approximately 75 percent of our patients show significant improvement in their wound appearance, despite those complications.
Commonly treated wound conditions include, but are not limited to:
- Surgical wounds
- Pressure ulcers with complications
Other wounds associated with infections, diabetes, amputations, necrotizing fasciitis, osteomyelitis, peripheral vascular disease, venous stasis, post trauma and burns
Rehabilitation
Kindred Hospital Milwaukee works in partnership with Peoplefirst Rehabilitation to provide therapy to medically complex patients who require specialized treatment and extended recovery time within a long-term acute care hospital setting. Peoplefirst employs highly skilled therapists who are specially trained to meet the needs of the long-term acute care patient.
Our customized, interdisciplinary approach is unmatched, and we encourage all patients to participate in therapy within the rehab gyms – even if they are on mechanical ventilation. We believe that when patients are out of their rooms and moving, it helps both the physical and emotional healing process.
Various types of therapy are used during recovery, including:
- Physical
- Occupational
- Speech
For patients who are not yet ready for gym rehab, our therapy staff provides comprehensive bedside treatment.
Dialysis
Our interdisciplinary team of dialysis specialists includes physicians, nurses, technicians and dietitians who strive to help you meet the challenges of dialysis with comfort and dignity, and continue to live a full, active life. We offer both hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis options.
Special Care Unit (SCU)
Kindred Hospital Milwaukee operates a four-bed SCU for patients requiring more extensive monitoring and intensive nursing care. Patients are cared for by registered nurses who have specialized training in critical care.
Patient Care Conferences
Kindred’s interdisciplinary approach includes regular meetings in which the healthcare team and the patient and or family members meet to re-evaluate the customized plan of care. These conferences promote communication and provide a regular forum in which all professionals involved in the patient’s care can address questions and concerns.
Ethics Committee
The Ethics Committee provides guidance and support when a patient, family and/or significant other need to make difficult medical decisions. The committee’s goal is to review the patient’s beliefs, wishes, values and other relevant factors to help determine the appropriate course of action.
Discharge Planning
Once patients are ready to be discharged, the physician, nurse and other patient care team members will discuss instructions for your care after discharge. Our case manager will assist you in making appropriate arrangements for discharge.
Interdisciplinary Team
Physicians
Our physicians are members of the hospital’s highly qualified medical staff and are responsible for the course of a patient’s clinical treatment. Kindred Hospital Milwaukee has over 100 board-certified physicians on staff from a variety of specialties.
Nursing
The nursing staff at Kindred Hospital Milwaukee provides high quality nursing care around the clock to meet each patient’s unique needs. Registered nurses actively participate in the interdisciplinary patient care conferences along with respiratory therapists and specialists in other disciplines to design and implement the patient care plan. Licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants are also important components of the nursing team. This team of individuals, plus the other caregivers that are on the nursing units, make hourly rounds to ensure that your needs are being met.
In addition, a nursing supervisor is on duty 24-hours a day to answer questions about nursing care or any other questions you may have.
Radiology
Radiology services are available and play an important role in diagnosing many illnesses. They providing a variety of x-rays and diagnostic procedures by registered radiological technologists.
Laboratory
Our in-house laboratory is responsible for collecting specimens, performing tests and reporting results in a timely fashion. These results aid physicians in screening for disease, establishing and confirming diagnosis and monitoring the course of an illness and response to treatment.
Pharmacy
Kindred Hospital Milwaukee runs an in-house pharmacy that is under the direction of and staffed by licensed pharmacists and technicians.
Food Services and Nutrition Support
Dietitians are on staff to ensure that individual nutritional needs are met and that diets are prepared according to physician orders. In addition, dietitians will perform periodic assessments and will monitor patient nutrition plans throughout their length of stay. Patients and/or families are asked to indicate food preferences, dislikes or food allergies to the dietitian or staff.
Social Services/Case Management
To provide support before, during and after hospitalization, a wide range of social services is provided to patients and their loved ones. These services include care coordination, consultation, discharge planning, referrals to community agencies and assistance in securing medical equipment for use at home. Family members can also participate in patient care conferences with the physician and interdisciplinary team as requested.