What Is a Critical Care Hospital?
When you are brought to a hospital for a serious medical incident such as a heart attack or brain injury, the treatment you receive there is called “acute” care, or care that is provided to address a severe or emergent medical issue. Traditional hospitals are designed to diagnose and stabilize individuals with acute medical problems. They typically do not expect their patients to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time.
In some cases though, patients require more time to recover in a hospital setting before they can safely return home or to another care setting. Most traditional hospitals are not designed to facilitate care for an extended period, so they will refer these patients to another care provider. When patients require continued hospitalization for the management of complex medical issues, they may be referred to a critical care hospital like a Vibra Hospital. Critical care hospitals offer a specialized second, or transitional, step toward extended care and recovery for patients who need it.
For this reason, you may sometimes hear a critical care hospital referred to as a long-term acute care hospital, or LTACH. While many hear “long-term” and think of a nursing home, the phrase is simply used here to contrast the typically shorter hospital stay that is provided at a short-term acute care hospital. Patients who require extended hospitalization typically stay at a critical care hospital anywhere between 25 and 30 days, though this can vary from patient to patient.
Critical care hospitals specialize in treating serious respiratory, cardiac, multi-system, neurological, infectious disease, and wound healing issues, among other conditions. At Vibra Hospitals, our goal is to help patients advance their recovery as much as possible during their stay.
Personalized & Compassionate Medical Services
It takes a team of very special and skilled people to care for individuals who are seriously ill. Our team members are committed to providing this special type of care with compassion.
At Vibra Healthcare, we consider ourselves patient-centered and family-friendly. We empower patients and their family members to be active participants in the treatment process. Our team members take time to get to know patients on a personal level and then develop treatment programs that are specific to each individual’s recovery goals, abilities, and needs. We encourage patients as they work toward their goals, and we enjoy celebrating milestones and successes with patients and their family members along the way.
Specific services and specialty programs vary by Vibra Healthcare location. View our locations map and choose a Vibra Healthcare critical care hospital near you to learn more.
