Chauncey: Healed with Care

Chauncey is a retired dentist who was living with his wife and was very independent, athletic and actively involved in the community. Chauncey enjoys surfing, riding his bicycle and being in the outdoors, and was a caregiver for his wife who had chronic health problems. 

One night, Chauncey developed a cough. The next morning, he went to the emergency room of a short-term acute care hospital where his condition rapidly deteriorated. Chauncey went into respiratory failure and was placed on a mechanical ventilator to help him breathe. He had a very complicated hospital stay and eventually had a tracheostomy. He also had various infections that prevented him from improving medically. Chauncey was unable to eat and required nutrition through a feeding tube. His doctors transferred him to Kindred Hospital Brea for continued care.

Upon admission, Kindred Hospital’s multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, therapists and specialists had specific goals for Chauncey. They were determined to wean him from the ventilator, help him regain his ability to eat a normal diet, clear up his infections, and rebuild his functional ability so he could return home to his previous activities.

Chauncey’s stay at Kindred Hospital was complicated by many medical setbacks that made his recovery very slow. He also struggled with being depressed due to his medical situation. A psychiatrist was asked to see Chauncey and work with him on this issue. Chauncey also had great support from his children who were a daily encouragement as well as advocates for him.

With the physicians’ daily guidance and the work of the clinical treatment team, Chauncey slowly improved to the point that he did not require the ventilator to breathe any longer. His infections were resolved and he regained the ability to start walking again with the assistance of his physical therapists. Having made tremendous progress, Chauncey still required further physical therapy, and close medical management. 

Chauncey and his family chose to discharge to a less intense level of care, the Kindred Brea Subacute Unit. There, Chauncey continued his medical treatment. His tracheostomy was removed and he continued to improve in his activities of daily living through further rehab.

Chauncey made continuous progress at Kindred Subacute and was discharged home with his wife and family six weeks after admission.

“It is the people that cared for me that I will always remember,” said Chauncey. “They were so good to me and really cared. It is the same way at the subacute, caring people and doctors that care. I should know - I’m a doctor myself.”

Kindred Hospital Brea’s success is apparent in stories like these as well as in our quality scores – our patients and families rate our quality of care at 95.6 percent and 98.6 percent would recommend Kindred.

Kindred Hospital Brea’s Subacute Unit offers subacute care for patients who require comprehensive, interdisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation prior to discharge home or to an alternative facility. Additional services available include wound care, IV therapy management, daily suctioning, respiratory care, tube feeding, management of an array of clinically complex care, including pneumonia, diabetes, and chemotherapy.