Following surgery to repair a fractured hip and three days of acute care, I graduated to Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation (Good Ship). Before my retirement from clinical medicine, I had visited patients, who had suffered strokes, in this hospital and appreciated the diverse services which it offered to improve their quality of life. My "insider's" view fills in the blanks from those early impressions.
The Good Ship opened in 1990 as Tennessee's first non-profit, freestanding, rehabilitation hospital. Out-patient treatment is offered at the hospital and clinics in Chattanooga, Cleveland, and Nashville. The hospital was the realization of a dream by brothers Mose and Garrison Siskin. The brothers began their philanthropic work in rehabilitation in 1950, dedicating their work to the memory of their parents. Today, separate foundations focus upon children's neuro-motor illnesses and the hospital and its clinics.
The crew of the Good Ship have diverse, mutually dependent training.
Physical therapists (PTs) enter their profession after four years of undergraduate study in varied curricula that include biology, neuroscience, psychology, and the study of movement. Three years of graduate school include classroom, lab, and clinical work and lead to a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. PTs elicit histories, examine, diagnose, treat, and educate their patients. They develop and continually update a treatment plan that is customized to the needs of each patient. My PT works with me directly and oversees Physical Therapy Associates (PTAs). PTAs have graduated from two-year programs, which many community colleges offer.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) focus upon the regaining of skills of daily living. An OT completes a Master's Degree and is certified through a national examination. The OTs assigned to my case are teaching me how to use a variety of ingenious aids to dress myself, shower, and regain skills that will lead to independence. Simple tasks such as putting on shoes and socks require training and special gear.
Speech and Language Pathologists evaluate and treat patients whose speaking or swallowing ability has been compromised by illness or injury. Each expert completes a Master's Degree and is certified by national exams.
The nursing staff of the Good Ship include Registered Nurses, BS-RNs, Certified Nursing Assistants, and Licensed Practical Nurses. No matter the initials on their identification tags, each is expert in lifting spirits and safely moving patients through the challenges of regaining independence. Relieving pain, managing a wide variety of pre-existing medical conditions, responding to unexpected change, dressing wounds, listening, and reassuring are their shared skills.
The physiatrist is Captain of the Good Ship. A physiatrist is a physician who, following medical school, has completed four years of post-graduate work and study in a certified, academic program of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He directs and coordinates the reassemble of the human body after it has been damaged by injury or disease. Imagine a 100 thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle that is suddenly dumped upon a floor and must be reassembled in some sort of working order.
A physician's assistant, bachelor's degree plus four years of study, acts as First Mate.
An administrative team manages the complex logistics of each patient's hospital stay.
People from food services provide hot, appealing meals to the passengers on the Good Ship. Other crew members from environmental services keep the cabins of the Good Ship fresh and clean.
Therapy begins in a passenger's room before moving to large gyms featuring a variety of equipment. Masks and social distancing are rigorously enforced. Looking around, I see fellow passengers who may have lost legs in accidents or from vascular disease. A cerebrovascular accident may have knocked out movement on one side of the body. Parkinson's disease may have slowed movement and imposed severe tremor. An auto accident may have produced multiple injuries. There are no racial, ethnic, gender, or economic separations among the passengers. We are all Homo sapiens, who want to get better.
"Empathy" is defined as the ability to sense, to understand and to share the feelings of another. The word is derived from Ancient Greek terms for "in" and "feeling." The Good Ship's manifesto is based upon empathy as the crew members work to repair broken bodies. I give the Good Ship and its crew a multi-gun salute.
Contact Clif Cleaveland at ccleaveland@timesfreepress.com.