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Acute Rehabilitation

We offer patient-and-family-centred, specialized, and intensive rehabilitation services.
Your team
Who are we?

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Your team may include nurses, doctors, physiatrists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech-language pathologists, recreation therapists, aquatic therapists, psychologists, dieticians, rehabilitation engineers and techs, rehabilitation assistant, social workers, pharmacists, and teachers who provide care to children with a range of cognitive and physical disabilities.

What do we do?

We:

  • assess the needs of your child
  • help develop a plan with you based on your child/family goals
  • provide goal-based intensive therapy for your child in a team environment
  • provide child-specific education and training support for you and community care providers to:
    • help you and your child care for yourselves independently, have a successful return home, and participate in your community 
  • transition you into the community:
    • connect you to community resources and supports
    • help (re)integrate your child into school 
  • provide postoperative care (eg. gastrostomy tube, orthopedic) including teaching and therapy
  • provide supportive care of medically complex and fragile children and/or those with high care needs  
Who do we see?

Children, youth, and their families from across BC aged birth to 19 years:

  • with acquired brain injuries
  • with physical disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy
  • with spinal cord injuries
  • with other diseases/conditions that require acute rehabilitation (e.g cancer treatments) and transition planning to support their return to their home community
  • who need specialized medical care such as post-operative G-tubes or Baclofen pumps
Your visit

Check out the new Acute Rehab Video!

Sharing the care

We want you, the parent or caregiver, to be an active partner in all aspects of your child’s care. You have a right to the information you need to help you make good decisions and give the best possible care to your child. You have a right to be respected as the person who knows your child best. 

It is important that parents and staff talk to each other each day about planning your child’s care. Weekly meetings happen in the  afternoons where you, as part of the team, can talk about your child’s progress and plan daily and weekly goals. It is also a great time to ask questions. When your child is admitted, the Clinical Nurse Coordinator or Social Worker will talk to you about your child's meetings.

General inpatient rehabilitation

Some examples of conditions or care needs we serve in this program area are:

  • Postoperative gastrostomy tube or orthopedic surgery care and management 
  • Seating, positioning, and mobility 
  • Splinting 
  • Wound care 
  • Pressure management 
  • Casts and traction 
  • Tone management 
  • Conditions other than brain injury that require a period of rehabilitation (e.g. complex pain, Guillian Barre) 
  • Tracheostomy care 
  • Oxygenation support (including BI-PAP or CPAP) 
  • Seizure management

Care may include assessment, treatment, patient, family and community caregiver education, training and support, and transition back to the community and home.

Acute rehabilitation

Your child may need intensive rehabilitation if he or she has had an injury, illness, or surgery that has left him or her with a loss or limitation of function such as difficulty feeding or eating, difficulty walking, speaking, or dressing etc. 

  • Your child can come to Sunny Hill for rehabilitation as an inpatient if he or she:
  • is medically stable
  • needs 24 hour nursing support
  • can manage 3-hours or more of therapy per day, 5-days a week
  • needs help from at least two or more therapists such as occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists or physiotherapists
  • has support and participation from family or caregivers during an inpatient stay

The goal of your child's rehabilitation is for you and your child to:

  • learn or relearn new skills
  • learn how to be safe with any new equipment or treatments
  • become as independent as possible

Who do I phone if I have questions about my child?

Nurse's station: 604-453-8311 (direct line)

You can phone the inpatient unit at any time and ask to speak to the nurse caring for your child. If the phone is not answered, please leave a message. Your child’s nurse will call you back as soon as possible.

Learn more about admission to the Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Program.


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