Since 2008, Hancock Regional Hospital’s Total Joint and Spine Unit has been helping patients recover from debilitating joint pain caused by arthritis and other conditions and, more importantly, helping them rediscover the simple pleasure of movement.
Initially focusing primarily on hip and knee replacements, the unit now offers a full array of orthopedic services that include shoulder joint replacements and a full compliment of spinal procedures from cervical laminectomies, discectomies and lumbar fusions.
A staff of nine surgeons specializing in joint replacement and spinal operations lead a staff of nurses, therapists and patient-care technicians who are also specially trained in the care of joint replacement and spine patients in the dedicated unit. Patient care, however, starts well in advance of a patient’s procedure with an education program on what to expect before, during and after surgery in addition to how to maximize their recovery at home.
Joint and Spine Care Coordinator Geanell Shores, in charge of pre-operative care and discharge planning, begins prepping patients for their procedures a full six weeks prior to admission and follows them after they are discharged – which happens much quicker than it did when the unit first opened some eight years ago. “When we first opened, the average stay was about a week,” Shores said. “Now we have them up and walking the day of surgery, and the average stay is two days.” The quick turnaround not only speeds recovery time, but it allows fewer chances for complications, Shores said.
For more information contact the hospital’s Total Joint and Spine Care Coordinator, Geanell Shores at (317) 468.4199 or e-mail gshores@hancockregional.org.
EN 
ES 
DE 
FR 
ZH 
JA