Pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation

Your child may need intensive physical rehabilitation following initial treatment. We offer an inpatient pediatric rehabilitation program that comes to your child’s hospital room. This includes physical, occupational and speech therapy. All of your child’s care is under one roof, here at University Hospital.

We commonly provide inpatient rehab to children with neurological disorders and injuries, congenital conditions and multiple traumas.

What to Expect

When your child receives inpatient rehabilitation at University Hospital, they will meet a team of providers whose sole focus is their recovery. We want to get your child back to their optimal level of functionality after an injury. We are your partners in your child’s recovery.

This health care team will come to your child’s room, so they don’t have to worry about moving back and forth between a rehabilitation clinic. You can expect these services while your child is in inpatient rehabilitation:

• 3 hours of therapy per day for 5 days (at a minimum)
• Patient and family training in daily living activities, walking, positioning and durable medical equipment needs
• Pediatric rehabilitation nurses work with your child to establish bowel and bladder movements
• A doctor evaluates your child every day that they are in the hospital
• If needed, pediatric ICU team manages tracheostomies and ventilators
• State-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment including:
  • VitalStim
  • Interactive Metronome
  • Ekso GT Exoskeleton
  • Erigo Pro
  • Various pediatric-sized standing frames and gait trainers

Pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation Team

When your child needs help functioning at their highest potential, you want the best team by your side. You can expect to meet these health care professionals along your child’s treatment journey:

• Board-certified pediatricians
• Board-certified pediatric rehabilitation medicine physician (also known as a pediatric physiatrist)
• Physical therapist
• Occupational therapist
• Speech therapist
• Pediatric nurses with rehabilitation training
• Neuropsychologist (mostly outpatient)
• Prosthetist and orthotist

Comprehensive Treatment Options

Our pediatric therapists provide therapeutic treatments over a period of weeks and months. With repeated and consistent therapy, movements become easier and less restricted.

Specific exercises and functional training for children can relieve pain and improve overall balance and strength. Our inpatient rehabilitation therapies for children include:

• Serial casting
• Splinting for burns
• Orthopedic splinting
• Orthotic and prosthetic training
• Swallowing assessment and therapy
• EKSO Exoskeleton

Serial Casting for Children

University Health is one of only a few facilities in the region that offers serial casting to stretch muscles in an arm or leg that needs correction. It helps correct toe walking and spasticity conditions. It helps children with extra tight muscles; it can help increase muscle tone or assist in allowing for increased range of motion. A cast is usually worn for a week at a time, removed and a new one applied until the desired result is reached.