Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Expand in Boise

In October 2023, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Hospital expanded its capacity to help patients who require complex rehabilitation care. St. Luke’s determined, upon a full review of overall services, that it can best serve the community by focusing on its core capabilities in acute rehabilitation services.

As a result of this review—along with the recognition that many skilled nursing facilities in our community contract with St. Luke’s Health Partners and provide care for patients needing subacute rehabilitation services—St. Luke’s ceased operations in subacute services to expand inpatient rehabilitation capacity.

The rehabilitation teams rallied around this change and gathered to mark the closing of the skilled rehabilitation unit (SRU). This change also allowed St. Luke’s to decrease contract staff from over 20 to zero!

The rehabilitation hospital has already seen an increase in the number of patients it can care for (also known as its census), and St. Luke’s plans to continue to increase to capacity as teams are fully staffed. In this interim period, while growing the census, rehabilitation teams have partnered with the medical-surgical teams in Boise and performed cross-training in those units during downtime, which has helped the medical-surgical teams decrease their use of contract staff as well. This partnership benefits the St. Luke’s team as a whole.

St. Luke’s vision is to build a nationally recognized rehabilitation program, and it is well on its way. The rehabilitation hospital in Boise has the inpatient capacity with amazing nursing, therapy and provider support. The larger system also has great outpatient therapy services and physician support for an overall strong rehabilitation program.

 

Elmore CNA Is a Step Closer To Achieving Her Dream

Andrea Vargova McMillen, CNA, always wanted to be a doctor when she was a child, but life happened, and she ended up becoming a teacher. She moved to the U.S. and became good friends with a girl who had a tough battle with cancer. Caring for her friend made Andrea realize it was her calling to help people.

“I took the plunge to come full circle and decided to become a nurse,” Andrea said about her decision to change careers as an adult.

The St. Luke’s Elmore team was excited when Andrea received the Reach for the Stars scholarship, which recognizes employees with an outstanding commitment to the St. Luke’s mission and vision. Andrea is an exceptional team member and demonstrates St. Luke’s ICARE values every shift.

Future patients and families will be blessed to have her as their nurse. Andrea’s story inspires others to remember their “why.”