New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health opened acute ventilator recovery units at two hospitals to help wean severely ill COVID-19 patients off ventilators and ease their transition to a rehab facility, the health system said June 1.
Northwell opened a 16-bed unit at Glen Cove (N.Y.) Hospital and an 11-bed unit at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
The units will house recovering COVID-19 patients who've had severe muscle loss due to long-term ventilation. Staff members will provide more individualized care for these patients than traditional rehab facilities, including ventilator-weaning and physical, occupational and speech therapy.
The goal is to move these patients to a more traditional rehab facility after a few weeks.
The units are also designed to ease stress for clinicians working in intensive care units and help them return to normal operating conditions.