Rehab / Geriatrics

The Rehabilitation and Geriatrics program provides services through nine hospital sites and community based program within the Winnipeg Region. Early on, the program recognized that it held a unique place within the health system, not quite in and of the hospitals, nor in and of the community, but on a bridge between sectors and services.

The services provided include health promotion, injury/illness prevention, treatment and support for a variety of conditions. The program generally provides support to clients who are also receiving services from a number of other WRHA programs, such as Medicine, Family Medicine, Primary Care, Home Care, Community LTC and Surgery. As such, the issues surrounding boundaries, service gaps and overlaps are of extreme importance.

The program provides interdisciplinary services in almost all instances. These rely heavily on the correct mix of professional and non-professional staff. In many cases, the current models available do not allow for consideration of all resources required concurrently. Some may be captured in different areas of a budget, or in different agencies. However, in order to meet the needs of the clients, all must work together. Among the different disciplines involved in the program are specialists and generalists in both rehabilitation and geriatric care from medicine, nursing, occupational and physio therapy, speech language pathology and audiology, rehabilitation assistants, social workers, clinical dieticians, pharmacists, rehabilitation engineers, prosthetics and orthotists.

The program has inpatient beds, day hospital and outpatient services, and a number of specialized services, such as Rehabilitation Engineering and Geriatric Program Assessment Teams. The clients served in the bed based programs come from the Winnipeg region (70%) and other areas of Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and Nunavut (30%).

Rehabilitation/Geriatrics Coordinated Entry System

Geriatric Program Assessment Team

The Geriatric Program Assessment Team will assess the complex needs of persons over the age of 65 years, in their homes or in the hospital and facilitate access to appropriate geriatric services. Their purpose is to reduce or prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and recommend a treatment plan to improve the client’s quality of life.