Bridges to Home

BBGH Swing Bed Program

Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) has offered a swing bed program for many years as part of its commitment to the recovery and care of patients no longer requiring acute care in a hospital setting, but who still need additional therapy before they can return home. To reflect that mission, the hospital's swing bed service is called Bridges to Home.

People who would need or benefit from the Bridges to Home program are acute care patients who have obtained a level of recovery where hospitalization is no longer necessary, but they are still not able to go home due to physical limitations. Acute care can be defined as a pattern of health care in which a patient is treated for a brief but severe episode of illness, for injuries from an accident or other trauma, or during recovery from surgery.

Qualifying for Bridges to Home

Here are some examples of what would qualify a client for Bridges to Home:

• Recovering from surgery, such as having a joint replacement, vascular or abdominal procedures
• Recovering from a major accident or stroke
• In need of pain management
• In need of wound care due to wounds not healing
• In need of nutritional therapy
• In need of other therapies, such as respiratory therapy or urology care

Meeting Medicare Guidelines

In order to be admitted to Bridges to Home, you must meet the following Medicare guidelines:

• You must have at least a three day stay as an acute care patient during the past 30 days before going on the swing bed program
• If you have been discharged home you can still qualify for Bridges to Home if you stayed in the hospital for acute care at least three days in the last 30 days.
• You must need ongoing monitoring and require skilled nursing or rehabilitative services on a daily basis.
• There are no age restrictions to the program.
• The swing bed program is routinely considered for patients who have had hip or knee surgery. Those recovering from stroke, cardiac or respiratory illnesses, etc.
• Patients needing IV therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc.

Teamwork key to success

Clients of Bridges to Home care are unique, each having needs that require treatments tailored to their care. Determination of those needs is met by the patient's health care provider, in tandem with representatives from many departments within the hospital, in particular the therapists from The Rehab and Wellness Center.

The final stage of the Bridges to Home program involves an in-home evaluation of the client and his or her environment, conducted prior to the client's discharge.