Vanessa: Continued Progress Leads to a Happy Ending

Vanessa, 45, came to Kindred Hospital Tucson from a short-term acute care hospital. Her history included asthma, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, anxiety and depression. She had five children at home and was very anxious about her ability to care for them.

Upon admission to Kindred, Vanessa required full assistance for all her mobility, grooming and dressing needs and was unable to speak or eat due to a tracheostomy tube. Her anxiety and depression decreased her ability to participate in therapy at times yet she was determined to return home as soon as possible to be with her family.

Vanessa required physical, occupational and speech therapy on a daily basis. Meanwhile, our nurses and respiratory therapists worked with her until she was able to be decannulated. She was also eventually able to swallow and eat safely, so her feeding tube was removed.

On her day of discharge, Vanessa was able to walk more than 100 feet with the aid of a walker. She was happy to be going home.

Kindred Hospital Tucson’s success is apparent in stories like this as well as in our quality scores – our patients and families rate our quality of care at over 93 percent and 98 percent would recommend Kindred.