Patients & Visitors

Centra Specialty is licensed as a hospital and specializes in long-term acute care (LTACH) services for adult patients with complicated injuries or illnesses. The average length of stay is 25 days as compared to a 4- to 5- day average in an acute-care hospital. LTACH patients are much sicker and may need cardiac monitoring, multiple IVs or even ventilators. A doctor or a nurse practitioner supervised by the doctor visit LTACH patients on a daily basis.

Medically complex patients requiring extended care. Some examples of long-term acute care patient types are:

• Ventilator weaning / trachs
• Long term parenteral antibiotics
• Complex wounds / Veraflow wound vac
• Feeding tube management / TPN
• Negative air flow room needs
• Multiple IV medications
• Complex surgical patients
• For Medicare patients, 3 midnights of ICU or telemetry or combination of both, does not have to be consecutive.

Centra Specialty has its own physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Care is relinquished to those physicians while here. Patients are rounded on daily at various times during the day. The primary physician works with nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Consulting physicians may be involved with the care and will visit as needed.

Care is provided by an interdisciplinary team from multiple disciplines. These include respiratory therapy, dietitians, case managers, rehabilitation, pharmacists and nursing. The entire healthcare team is focused on providing care to the medically complex patient requiring a longer length of stay. We also offer the full scope of services that are available in acute-care hospitals, such as radiology, CT scans, MRI, cardiology and laboratory services.

Most patients receive some type of rehabilitation during their stay. This may include physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), speech-language (ST) and/or restorative services. Therapy is provided as it is tolerated – some days it may be 15 minutes and other days up to an hour and some days none at all. Because patients at Centra Specialty Hospital often cannot withstand many hours of therapy per day, they receive a slower, more individualized therapy plan that takes into account their complex medical needs. Therapists are on staff Monday – Friday.

Visitation during the COVID-19 Pandemic is restricted.  Guidelines for Centra Specialty Hospital are as follows:

• Visiting hours will be observed from 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• For fully vaccinated patients:
  • Two visitors at a time are allowed and do not have to be designated.
  • Visitors are permitted to take turns but only two at a time are allowed.
• For patients not fully vaccinated:
  • Two designated visitors per patient are allowed for the duration of the hospitalization.
• All visitors will be screened upon entry into the building and must be 18 years of age or older.
• If you become ill with symptoms of fever, cough, headache, body aches, or stomach upset during your visit, you must leave the building. Please notify your patient’s nurse or provider of your symptoms.
• Visitors must wear a mask covering mouth and nose throughout the duration of your visit. The mask must not have an exhalation valve. Cloth masks with two or more layers are acceptable.
• No activities that require the removal/lowering of your mask, such as eating, drinking, etc. allowed.
• While in the building you should avoid touching surfaces as much as possible and wash your hands frequently (for 20 seconds using soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand rub).
• You must stay in the room of the person you are visiting. Please do not visit others or go to other locations within the hospital. We ask that you please refrain from visiting the cafeteria, gift shop and common waiting areas, unless otherwise directed to do so. You may use public restrooms.
• If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a disposable tissue, discard tissue in trash can and wash or sanitize hands.
• Utilize social distancing requirements by standing/sitting six (6) feet apart from others.
• Limited personal belongings that may be brought into the facility for patient or visitor use include:
  • Assistive devices (case, walker, etc.), hearing aids, eyeglasses, dentures
  • Electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops, iPads, etc.)
  • Clean clothing

Exceptions to the above restrictions are allowed on a case by case basis if approved by the Director of Patient Care Services or CEO in the following circumstances:

• End of life patients
• Patient lacks capacity and a visitor is needed to make decisions related to care and treatment of the patient (this includes patients with cognitive, behavioral, or special needs)

These guidelines are effective beginning June 9, 2021 and are subject to change based on the prevalence of COVID-19 cases in the community. The restrictions have been implemented to protect you and our community. Thank you for doing your part in preventing the spread of this illness.

Normal visitation guidelines:

Family and friends are welcome to visit you during your stay at Centra Specialty Hospital. Visits with family and friends contribute to the recovery and rehabilitation process. Families are often encouraged to observe and participate in therapy sessions. Visiting hours and the number of visitors allowed at one time are at the discretion of the patient other than between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. During these hours, visitation is limited to one adult visitor per patient. Quiet time is observed from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily to give our patients time to rest. We encourage limited visitation during these hours. Children are welcomed with supervision during regular visiting hours.

Parking is free to visitors and is available adjacent to the facility. We invite your visitors to use the hospital cafeteria, which is located on the second floor of the Mundy building. There are also vending machines on the third floor. Our staff will be happy to direct you to either location. Centra Specialty Hospital only provides meals for our patients.