Organ Transplant Rehabilitation Backgrounder
St. John's Rehab is the only hospital in Ontario solely dedicated to specialized rehabilitation. Our organ transplant rehabilitation program is the Canadian leader in rehabilitation for recipients of heart, lung, renal, liver and other transplants.
- The program was developed in partnership with the University Health Network (UHN) and is the only specialized transplant rehab program in Canada.
- The integrated model of care between St. John's Rehab and UHN is supported through patient and team consultations using leading-edge videoconferencing technology and joint research and education initiatives.
- Our multidisciplinary team of rehabilitation professionals develops goals and timelines with each patient and keeps in close contact with them and their families. This helps achieve maximum recovery, independence and quality of life.
- Rehabilitation includes education about diet, exercise, proper use of medication, activities of daily living, as well as social and psycho-social support.
- Once discharged, patients can benefit from a seamless continuum of care by being referred to our outpatient rehabilitation program.
- As a teaching site of the University of Toronto, we excel in teaching and researching rehabilitation care.
- Our highly skilled multidisciplinary rehab team includes physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, speech-language pathologists, physicians, physiatrists, dietitians, social workers, psychologists and pastoral care.
- The individually customized program consists of assessment, treatment and support focused on the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
Ontario and Canada organ transplant statistics
- In 2006, 874 organ transplants were performed in Ontario .
- According to the Trillium Gift of Life Network, in 2007:
- More than 1,700 Ontario patients are waiting for a new organ.
- There have been 212 Ontario donors.
- There have been 431 transplants including kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas and small bowel.
- In Canada in 2005:
- There were 4025 people waiting for an organ donation.
- 283 people – or 5 per week – died while on the waiting list.
- The survival rate for a living relative kidney transplant is 98 per cent.
- According to the Organ Donation and Transplant Association of Canada, the waiting list for an organ transplant has doubled in the past ten years.
St. John 's Rehab organ transplant patients (April 2006 – March 2007)
- Total inpatient beds: 6
- Inpatients admitted: 54
- Outpatient visits: 286
- Typical length of stay: four to five weeks
- Average age of patients: 55
- Patients aged 55 or older: 61.1 per cent
- Gender of patients: 54.9 per cent male, 45.1 per cent female