Skilled Nursing Services

Skilled Nursing Services or Swing-Beds are provided at Delta Memorial Hospital for patients who require daily skilled nursing care.

SWING BED

This unique program is designed for patients who are not well enough to be discharged home, but not recommended for acute care. Some examples of these skilled needs include but are not limited to: IV therapy & IV medications, sterile dressing changes, rehabilitation following a stroke or orthopedic surgery, strength training following a lengthy hospitalization, and pain management. A patient benefits from swing bed in a number of ways. Beneficial aspects of Swing Bed are staying close to home while receiving your care, visitation and overnight stay of family member with the patient, not to mention the financial aspect of the cost of traveling.

Who qualifies for swing bed?
Patients meet the medical qualifications for swing bed if he/she has had a consecutive 3 day acute care hospital stay within the last 30 days. A patient must also require skilled care on a daily basis.
DMH has a professional, caring nursing staff trained to care for you and your loved ones. Additionally, we have excellent rehab professionals (physical therapy and occupational therapy) ready to assist patients in gaining and retaining as much independence as possible.

HOSPICE

DMH has contracts with several Hospice agencies to provide inpatient services for those patients who require special one on one care at the end of their life journey. Patients who have arrived at the final stages of life require specialized care that can be tedious to provide at home. Delta Memorial Hospital staff will provide loving and supportive care with the promise to keep your loved one comfortable and give you the piece of mind you will much need and deserve.

DISCHARGE PLANNING AND SOCIAL SERVICES

Discharge planning begins as soon as a patient is admitted to our facility. Using a multidisciplinary team approach, we work with our patients, family members, physicians, and other medical staff to anticipate the needs of our patients upon discharge from DMH. Our ultimate goal is to make the transition from hospital to home as smooth as possible. A patient may meet with the discharge planner if he/she needs a referral to home health or hospice, needs medical equipment at home, needs nursing home care, or any number of other individualized home needs.

A referral to Social Services may be made if hospital staff notice psychosocial issue that could have an adverse effect on a patient's health.

HELPFUL TIPS ON WHAT TO REFER TO SOCIAL SERVICES

Suspected child/adult abuse or neglect
Patient need of home health or hospice referral
Patient need of medical equipment at home
Need for patient to go to rehab
Drug or alcohol abuse involvment
Suicidal, psychiatric, or OD of any type
Referral needed to nursing home, long term acute care hospital
Patient not having a payer source
No support system for patient and/or homeless and/or inadequate living conditions of patient
Financial difficulty of patient's ability to purchase medications
OB patient under the age of 18
New mother not bonding well with infant
A death anywhere in the hospital
Any type of crisis in the hospital
A "funny feeling" about a patient and his/her situation