What is a Long-Term Chronic Care Hospital?

A long-term chronic care hospital provides hospital-level, ongoing medical care for older adults with chronic and complex health needs. At Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, long-term chronic care combines person-centered extended medical care, therapeutic services, and supportive programming in a homelike setting designed to promote comfort, dignity, and quality of life.

Many people are familiar with nursing homes and communities that offer independent or assisted living. However, sometimes, you or your loved one needs more care than those settings can provide. There’s another option you may not have heard of: long-term chronic care. 

How Is Long-Term Chronic Care Different from a Nursing Home?

Long-term chronic care provides a higher level of medical care than a traditional nursing home. While nursing homes often focus on custodial care and support with daily living, long-term chronic care at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center includes more comprehensive medical oversight, coordinated clinical services, and specialized therapeutic programs for older adults with chronic and complex conditions.

• Traditional nursing home: long-term support and assistance with daily living
• Long-Term Chronic Care: hospital-level medical care, therapeutic services, and specialized support in a homelike setting

Long-term chronic care may be appropriate for older adults whose chronic illness or ongoing medical needs can no longer be safely managed at home or in a more traditional long-term care setting.

Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, with locations in Boston and at NewBridge in Dedham, is licensed as a long-term chronic care hospital, which allows us to provide person-centered, ongoing medical care and specialized therapeutic programs in a supportive, homelike environment, offering services not typically found in traditional nursing homes.

Here are some notable characteristics of long-term chronic care at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center: 

• Geriatric specialists, who are experts in the care of seniors, provide 24/7 medical care. Our Harvard Medical School-affiliated physicians are on-site and our Department of Medicine is one of the largest geriatric practices in Massachusetts. 
• Small households help maximize patients’ independence with assistance from an interdisciplinary team. Staff ensure that all patients feel at home, respected, and cared for.
• Specialized therapists provide a wide range of rehabilitative therapies, including physical, occupational, speech-language, and expressive therapies. Each patient is evaluated on admission and receives a personalized care plan with individualized goals.
• A palliative care team includes physicians, social workers, nurses, and spiritual care providers who focus on pain relief, the symptoms and emotional stress brought on by serious illness, and family communication about goals of care.
• A life enhancement team offers patients a wide range of activities to optimize quality of life and provide opportunities for continued personal growth.
• Rabbis and chaplains attend to the spiritual and religious needs of patients.
• A culinary team, including dieticians, offers personalized nutrition services.
• A pharmacy, lab, and specialty care like podiatry and radiology are all available on-site.

Ready to explore long-term chronic care? Contact our Admissions Department for more information at 617-363-8372.