DMC Swing Bed Program can help make a smooth transition between acute care and your return home. This allows patients to be close to family and friends during rehabilitation, which can speed up recovery.

What is a Swing Bed Program?

After surgery or hospitalization, some patients require additional care and transfer into a nursing home or rehabilitation facility to help improve their physical functioning. Swing Bed is not intended for permanent placement; it is for continued care until the patient returns home or transfers to a facility for longer term care.

At DMC, we can provide the transitional care with our Swing Bed Program, which includes skilled nursing; physical, occupational, and speech rehabilitation; and other services based on your treatment plan. Even if you were hospitalized elsewhere, you can transfer to the Swing Bed Program at DMC, bringing you closer to your family.

Who Qualifies for Swing Bed?

Qualifying Criteria

Patients with a minimum three day (and night) inpatient hospital stay, who require additional nursing care and/or rehabilitation services on a daily basis (for a short term stay of generally 1 to 3 weeks). Examples of patients that would be appropriate for our program are:

• Those needing care after orthopedic surgery, such as joint replacement or fractures
• Patients needing to continue or complete IV therapy
• Patients recovering from an accident, injury or illness
• Post-surgical patients

What to Expect

Our compassionate medical providers, nurses, therapists, social workers and support personnel work with patients and their family or caregiver to develop an individualized treatment plan.

Treatment plans are developed with the patient’s specific needs and discharge goals in mind.  Our team works to get patients back home and to the level of activity they are used to.

To ensure that patients are safe and can care for themselves once they return to home, therapy typically includes occupational for self-care skills and functionality, physical for strengthening and mobility, and others to help each patient meet their personalized goals. A physician will be available, if needed, but will not make daily visits.

Why Choose Dorminy Medical Center?

• Our hospitalist program ensures that a physician is readily available, if needed. 
• In-house 24-hour emergency care, if needed
• Physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapists, available as scheduled
• Patient activities, available as needed
• In-house lab, imaging and surgery, if needed
• Most importantly, we're close to your home, family and friends

Preparing for Successful Discharge

During a patient’s stay for short-term rehab, the multi-disciplinary care team will monitor a patient’s improvement from day to day, developing new goals as the patient progresses toward discharge to home or another setting.

As the patient gets close to meeting their goals, the care team works with the family or caregiver to ensure a successful discharge.

What does a successful discharge look like? Families and caretakers are not alone. Prior to discharge, our Social Worker / Case Manager will assist with resources the patient or family or caregiver may need. Therapists will ensure that necessary accommodations have been made at home to keep the patient safe, and that the family or caregiver is comfortable using safe body mechanic techniques to assist their loved one and assisting the loved one with any adaptive devices or home exercises.

If needed, the care team can make referrals to home health or for rehabilitation services.

Payment & Insurance

We accept Medicare, including most advantage plans, and other insurances and will check coverage before admission so that patients know about any co-pays they may be responsible for.

Medicare and most Medicare Advantage plans often cover the Swing Bed Program if the Medicare clinical necessity guidelines for skilled nursing care are met. Most Medicare supplements will pay any co-pays or deductibles if there are any.

It is always a good idea to check with your insurance provider prior to any hospital service for coverage and pre-authorization.

We will be happy to assist you in your recovery. For more information or referral, contact Tabitha Carelock at tcarelock@remove-thisdorminymedical.org or by phone at 229-424-7124 or 229-424-7161 Monday - Friday, 8:00AM to 4:30PM.