Joint Camp at South Central Regional Medical Center
Provides Comprehensive Joint Replacement Care

When you and your orthopedic surgeon decide it is time for a total joint replacement, South Central Regional Medical Center’s new Joint Camp program offers an approach that can shorten your recovery and shorten your hospital stay.

Joint Camp is a program dedicated to the comprehensive care of hip replacement and knee replacement patients. Located at South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel, MS, which is convenient to those who live in this region, Joint Camp combines extensive pre-operative education for the patient and their family, outstanding patient care, and group-focused therapy in an environment created to enhance faster healing and recovery.

Phil Rasberry, P.T., D.P.T., MTC, Director of Rehabilitation Services at South Central Regional Medical Center, said, “The first step in the Joint Camp process is to attend a pre-habilitation session at the medical center. The patient will get to know those who will be caring for them while they are in the hospital after their procedure”.

During the pre-habilitation session, each patient is given a Joint Camp notebook complete with information they need before, during and after they go home from surgery. The binder includes information on what is involved in a joint replacement procedure; the importance of exercise prior to surgery; a pre-operative home check-list; what to expect during your stay at Joint Camp; exercises after surgery; precautions and safety tips at home; and more.

Each patient brings their “coach” with them to the pre-habilitation session. The coach can be a friend or family member who will support them and encourage them throughout the process. “This is an excellent program,” Rasberry said. “Knowing what to expect up front is key to recovery,” he said. Another great point about patients participating in South Central’s new Joint Camp program is that they are pre-admitted for their procedure prior to the day of surgery which expedites the patient’s flow through the process.

While in the hospital, patients are no longer transported from their patient room down to inpatient rehabilitation services, Rasberry said. “Rehabilitation occurs right on the Joint Camp floor giving patients the opportunity to get to know others who are going through the same recovery.” Before the patients are discharged, they each are given a Joint Camp T-shirt as a reminder of their commitment to recovery.
Spring Walters, P.T., Coordinator of the Joint Camp Program at South Central said, “Patients who come in for a joint replacement surgery are typically not sick. They just have a joint that needs replacing. For that reason, we encourage them not to wear pajamas and robes during their stay at Joint Camp. We encourage them to wear jogging pants, and comfortable shoes and shirts.”

For those who have had a joint replacement procedure, they know how critical it is to begin rehabilitation shortly after surgery. Scar tissue can build up around the joint if the joint is idle. This can have a major impact on recovery,” Walters said. “So, we get our patients up as soon as we can and begin to move that joint so that the patient can have an improved quality of life,” she said.

“We have had patients come back and visit us after they have fully recovered from joint replacement surgery,” and it is so rewarding to see them walking and moving about without pain. We treat our Joint Camp patients as if they are a member of our own family and it is so nice to see them doing all of the things they previously enjoyed doing,” Walters said.

In closing, Walters encouraged anyone who is having pain in their hip or knee joint to see one of the orthopedic surgeons who participate in the Joint Camp program at South Central. “They all work at Laurel Bone and Joint Clinic in Laurel,” she said, “and an appointment can be made by calling 601.649.5990.”
For more information about Joint Camp, call Spring Walters at 601.426.4279.

Author:Linda Gavin

Category:News

Tags:Joint Camp, Rehabilitation Services, SCRMC