Patients can practice walking in the on-site gym, where they have access to an overhead harness system that supports a portion of their body weight while they regain strength.
Mackenzi Klemann/The Lima News
LIMA — Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center officials on Wednesday unveiled the hospital’s new neuroscience and inpatient rehabilitation unit, a 28-bed unit overlooking downtown Lima from the hospital’s eighth floor.
There, recovering stroke patients and others practice their daily routines in the unit’s model apartment, hair salon, car or grocery store, while a series of glass storefronts resembling popular Lima establishments aides their memories.
Patients can practice walking in the on-site gym, where they have access to an overhead harness system that supports a portion of their body weight while they regain strength.
The new unit, which opened several weeks ago, comes months after national accrediting firm DNV certified St. Rita’s as a comprehensive stroke center, meaning the hospital can provide the highest level of stroke care.
“If a stroke patient goes to one of our rural community hospitals, if they need (advanced) care they’re shipping them to Toledo, Fort Wayne, Dayton or Columbus,” said Lisa Rampe, director of neurosciences and rehabilitation at St. Rita’s.
Now, those patients “can come to us and receive that level of care,” Rampe said.
