Recovering from an injury, illness or surgery can be challenging. Let the AVH Rehabilitation Services team help!  Our expert therapists will design a program to get you back to optimal functioning as soon as possible, using a wide variety of therapies and state-of-the-art equipment.  Click here for a brief biography on each therapist.

Inpatient and Outpatient Programs

• Physical Therapy
  

Our physical therapists help patients achieve maximum levels of physical mobility, strength, endurance, balance and coordination. Exercise, stretching, weights and other equipment may be used.

• Occupational Therapy

The occupational therapy team focuses on increasing, enhancing and adapting patients’ task development skills to increase the level of independence and autonomy. We offer on- and off-site programs, including job site analysis, ergonomic and functional capacity evaluations, and a work hardening program.

• Speech Therapy

The speech and language professionals at AVH use a wide variety of speech and language techniques to help with speech and communication problems, swallowing issues, cognitive challenges, and hearing problems.

Specialized Services

• Aquatic Therapy

The use of water for rehabilitation purposes has a long-standing history - from  Roman and Greek civilizations, to the treatment of polio patients in the 1940s.  More recently, the public has become exposed to news of Aquatic Therapy in the recovery and treatment of famous athletes, including Nolan Ryan and Nancy Kerrigan.

Aquatic Therapy includes rehabilitation and treatment of a wide patient population, and is now a rapidly growing area of specialization.  Populations such as those with arthritis, fibromyalgia, back problems and those recovering from injury or surgery, such as total hip or knee replacements or ACL repairs, are prime candidates for Aquatic Therapy.  Stress on joints, bones and muscles is dramatically reduced in the water.  Swelling of an injured arm or leg can be minimalized.  Balance difficulties can also be addressed in a much safer environment.  The fun environment of the pool allows therapists to challenge children with decreased tone, as well as improve coordination and functional skills.

Aquatic Therapy is a valuable form of treatment which produces very successful results. 

• Early Intervention

"Early Intervention," according to the law that created it, is "a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary, inter-agency system that provides early intervention for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families."  Simply put, it is a program of services designed to intervene at the early states of an infant or toddler's disability.  Early intervention is designed to serve children with disabilities under the age of three and their families.  Occupational, physical and speech therapies are all integral team members.  Infants or toddlers with disabilities in one or more of the following areas of development may qualify for Early Intervention:  physical, cognitive, adaptive communicative, sensory and/or emotional development. 

• Ergonomics: Preventing Workplace Injury

Everyone deserves to be comfortable and feel safe in their work environment.  The AVH Rehabilitation Ergonomics Team can help you to achieve this.  Work by nature is assumed to be uncomfortable.  But comfort is not something to be found only after work is completed.  The work environment can be fitted to the people who do the work, leading to an easier, more productive work experience.  The Ergonomics Team is ready to assess and consult with people in the work environment.  Rehabilitation personnel make up the team and bring solid Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy backgrounds to deal with functional positioning and adaptive solutions. 

• Home Health

•   Schools
  

Performed using the Matheson System of Work Evaluation, each functional capacity evaluation (FCE) is customized for the client as determined by the therapist based on the diagnosis.  FCEs are used to determine the client's level of work ability as defined by the Department of Labor Standards and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.  A baseline FCE addresses the full range of physical tolerances.  A job-specific FCE addresses physical tolerances in comparison to the task demands of the target job.  Appropriate return to work recommendations are made.  A comprehensive report is produced that answers the referral sources' questions as determined at the time of referral.  This evaluation is thorough and detailed.  It takes approximately four hours to perform. 

• Work Hardening/Work Tolerance Program
  

The purpose of the Work Hardening/Work Tolerance (WH/WT) Program has been designed to help workers who have suffered disabling injuries return to their regular work assignments.  In some cases, work-site adaptation and/or task modification are required to compensate for physical disabilities.  The work tolerance portion of this program assesses the employee's current level of function and projects his/her potential for completing the work hardening segment of the program.  Work hardening provides the employee with an opportunity to make a gradual entry back to the workplace.  Through the use of simulated work tasks in a structured and supervised setting, this program acts as the principle bridge between acute medical care and re-entry to the work site.  This program also imparts to the employee, the value of continued strengthening and endurance training, and their relationship to the avoidance of injury.

• Wound Care

A physical therapy referral can often benefit a patient with open wounds.  Physical Agent Modalities, such as electrical stimulation, ultrasound and whirlpool, can often speed the healing of chronic ulcers (venous, arterial, diabetic) as well as surgical or other types of wounds.

Contact Information 

For more information about AVH Rehabilitation Services, call (603) 326-5738.