Weekend Rehabilitation

Every day, patients endure long waits in emergency rooms. At the end of acute care treatments, they wait again in hospital beds for other levels of care, such as long-term care or rehabilitation. Instead of waiting, what if patients could access the care they needed when they needed it?

St. John's Rehab has continued our efforts to improve the transition from acute care to rehab. Thanks to an annual $4-million investment by the Central Local Health Integration Network, we are one of the first rehab hospitals in Toronto to offer inpatient rehabilitation therapy seven days per week. We also admit and discharge patients on weekends and offer evening outpatient service hours.

For the patient recovering from heart surgery, or a devastating workplace accident, it means not waiting around all weekend. Instead, that time can be used to focus on getting back to work, family and the community.

Weekend models can be duplicated to improve capacity in the healthcare system as a whole. By expanding access to rehabilitation, we help free up acute care beds for other patients who are waiting for treatment at our partner hospitals. We also increase our capacity by allowing patients to be admitted more quickly, and reducing their stay in rehab while achieving the same excellent outcomes.

Each year, more than 200 additional patients at St. John's Rehab (nine per cent) are returning to improved independence. And since we implemented this model, we've reduced the average length of our patients' stay by nearly two days.

By working together with acute care hospitals and creating a sustainable and cost-effective model that works, we are rebuilding patients' lives every single day of the week and helping them achieve inspirational and meaningful goals.