Southwestern Medical Center

Physical Therapy is a health care specialty involved with evaluating, diagnosing, and treating disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The ultimate goal of physical therapy is to restore maximal functional independence to each individual patient. To achieve this goal, physical modalities such as exercise, heat, cold and massage are utilized.

Physical therapy is provided by physical therapists who are licensed health care professionals with a master’s or doctorate degree in physical therapy. Physical therapists evaluate, diagnose, and manage the physical therapy treatment plan, customizing it to the patient’s needs.

Physical therapy is ordered by a physician when it is felt that such a course of treatment would be beneficial. It is offered to a wide variety of patient’s for a variety of different reasons.

Physical therapy is useful in treating many different medical disorders. Sport and orthopedic injuries, neurological and muscular illness, as well as cardiopulmonary diseases are only a few pathologic conditions which physical therapy plays a treatment role in.

Through patient and therapist interaction, physical therapy can help restore movement and function helping patients return to their prior level of independence.

Southwestern Rehabilitation Center

The rehab unit at Southwestern Medical Center is dedicated to helping people with disabilities return to productive, independent lifestyles. Principles of advanced comprehensive medical rehabilitation are applied. Using the interdisciplinary team approach, we can help the patient with disabilities attain their highest level of physical, emotional, and social independence. Please call 580-531-4704 for more information. The interdisciplinary team evaluates each patient upon admission. After careful consideration and case study, each member of the team develops an in-depth, goal-oriented, treatment plan. The family is an important ingredient of the rehabilitation process. The team needs the input of the family in all phases of the program. At the Southwestern Rehabilitation Center, there is no such thing as one “typical” treatment program. We design an individual treatment program for each patient, because each patient has different and specific needs that call for a different combination of therapies. By combining these therapies appropriately, under the direction of our medical director and rehab team, we help our patients make significant achievements that lead to recovery.

The team approach is the best approach to the integration of a comprehensive rehab program. The SWMC Rehabilitation Center team includes members from the following disciplines:

Physical Therapy

At Southwestern Medical Center, physical therapy is vital to our comprehensive plan for patients who are physically limited due to an accident, illness, handicap, or injury.

Southwestern Medical Center’s goal is to provide quality care with a comfortable and personal environment. Our physical therapist offers a one-on-one approach with every patient and gives a thorough evaluation with treatment plans and goals established with each patient’s needs. Our top priority is to aid patients into a quick recovery.

Our licensed physical therapist creates a comfortable atmosphere for our patients as they go through the rehabilitative services. You can expect the highest level of therapeutic treatment. For more information or to schedule an appointment with our physical therapist, call 580-531-4704.

Southwestern Medical Center Rehabilitation Services

Southwestern Medical Center’s Rehabilitation Center is a comprehensive, hospital-based rehabilitation facility serving Lawton and the surrounding area. The Center is dedicated to assisting patients in their recovery on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. An interdisciplinary team of licensed physical, occupational and speech therapists work together with rehabilitation nurses and social workers on an individual plan of therapy for each patient, helping them to regain abilities or to adapt to permanent disabilities. Psychology services are available for consult as needed.

Inpatient Rehabilitation Center

The Inpatient Rehabilitation Center offers services to patients diagnosed with:

• Stroke
• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Amputation
• Hip fracture
• Neurological disorders
• Major multiple trauma
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Burns

Southwestern’s Rehabilitation Center is also concerned with preventing work-related injuries before they happen. Qualified professionals are available to provide area companies with education programs and job assessments. For more information on any of the services offered by Southwestern Medical Center Rehabilitation Center, call 580-531-4704.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists are available to help patients adjust to, or overcome, the effects of illness or injury, and address activities of daily living:

• Dressing, cooking, hygiene
• Upper extremity – strengthening, flexibility, coordination
• Mobility in the home
• Cognitive skills
• Perceptual skills
• Adaptive equipment

Occupational therapists at SWMC are certified by the American Occupational Therapy Association and are licensed by the State of Oklahoma. Occupational therapists are graduates of accredited university programs, holding Bachelor’s or Master’s Degrees in Occupational Therapy.

Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy is provided and is an integral part of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation program. Physical therapists address mobility, lower extremity strengthening, coordination and sensation. Therapy may address:

• Joint range of motion
• Muscle strengthening & endurance
• Mobility – by ambulation or wheelchair
• Need & use of braces or artificial limbs
• Car transfers

SWMC’s physical therapy staff consists of experienced licensed physical therapists and trained physical therapy technicians. All physical therapists are licensed by the State of Oklahoma, and are graduates of accredited university programs in physical therapy.

Speech Therapy

Our Speech Language Pathologists have a Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology, are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and are licensed by the State of Oklahoma Board of Examiners. We are in the position to treat our patients from the beginning of their illness in the acute hospital, through their rehab stay, and then in their outpatient program. Our therapists offer speech therapy for:

• Communication
• Language
• Cognition
• Memory
• Swallowing
• Speech
• Hearing Screenings
• Voice

We offer these services for a multitude of disorders/diseases, such as the following:

• Stroke
• Traumatic brain injury
• Cancer
• Cerebral Palsy
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Other neurological disorders

Individual therapy sessions are designed to build on the patient’s strengths to improve their communication and processing skills enabling them to become better communicators and more functional in their environment.

Social Services

Disabilities affect more than a person’s physical abilities. They also impact the psychosocial and emotional well-being of the patient and their family. Rehabilitation social workers offer a variety of services to help patients and their families adjust to changes caused by illness or injury. SWMC’s social workers serve as liaisons for the treatment team with patients and families. They focus on family counseling and education on illness and disability. They stay in close contact with physicians, nurses and other professional personnel to help coordinate patient care. Social workers also aid in making a smooth transition from hospitalization to post-rehabilitation care by identifying resources and services needed when patients leave SWMC. The rehabilitation social service staff are either licensed by the State of Oklahoma and have earned graduate degrees in social work, or are under the supervision of a licensed social worker.

Rehabilitation Nursing

Teaching independence is the goal of our rehabilitation nurses at SWMC. In addition to primary patient care, nurses work one-on-one with patients, helping to retrain activities of daily living, educating in proper medication schedules and addressing patients’ cognitive, physical and social skills. Members of the staff are licensed in the State of Oklahoma and are graduates of accredited nursing schools. Nurses hold Associate or Bachelor Degrees in Nursing and may become Certified Rehabilitation Registered Nurses (CRRN) after completing specified qualification.

Southwestern Regional Medical Center Social Services

The Social Services Department at Southwestern Medical Center works with patients and families, providing discharge planning, short-term counseling, referral to outside resources and assisting with end-of-life issues such as Living Wills and Advance Directives. The Department is staffed with skilled and experienced social workers who have bachelor’s or master’s degrees.

SWMC social workers specialize in handling medically related issues and work with a variety of patients including victims of abuse, severe trauma, terminal illness, permanent disabilities and drug or alcohol addiction. Social Services is the liaison between patients and family members and the medical team, keeping the lines of communication open. Social workers take a look at the “whole picture,” focusing on patients’ needs following their discharge from the hospital — helping them to adjust to illness and the changes they will be faced with.

There are many support groups, community service groups, social agencies and sources of financial assistance available in the Lawton area for patients and their families. Social Services helps identify these resources and services for patients to help make the transition from the hospital to home as easy as possible.

Members of the Social Services Department are actively involved in community organizations, frequently speaking on topics through SWMC’s Speakers’ Bureau. Although most patients making a trip to the hospital do not expect to use the services of a social worker during their stay, many find Social Service to be an important part of the health care team at SWMC.