Navigating the Inpatient Admissions Process at Shepherd Center
Your healing journey is our top priority, and we’re dedicated to supporting you every step of the way
Here at Shepherd Center, we understand the road to recovery is not one you travel alone. It's a collaborative effort involving a network of dedicated individuals working together toward your well-being.
We take pride in our role as facilitators, educators, and advocates for you and your loved ones. Beyond navigating the administrative aspects of admission, we strive to provide comprehensive support and resources, ensuring you feel empowered and informed at every stage.
How to Initiate the Admission Process for Inpatient Rehabilitation
Navigating the path to inpatient rehabilitation care is designed to be a thoughtful and supportive process. Here’s how to confidently take the first steps for you or a loved one.
If you're exploring options for rehabilitation or specialized care, ask your physician, discharge planner, social worker, or insurance company case manager to submit a referral on your behalf.
We also welcome you to contact us directly. Our compassionate team is ready to listen, provide guidance, and help determine whether Shepherd Center is right for your rehabilitation journey.
Each referral is important to us. Our dedicated admissions liaisons carefully review each referral to assess our capacity to provide appropriate care.
We understand the urgency of your situation, and our team can initiate this process promptly, often within 24 hours of receiving the referral on business days.
Our admissions team can also assist with insurance verification and financial clearance for new patients. In cases where your insurance provider does not initially approve treatment at Shepherd, we can help with appeals or negotiating service coverage, as needed.
We work closely with you, your physician, and the referring hospital to ensure a smooth transition to Shepherd Center.
Inpatients can be admitted from an acute-care hospital (including ICU-to-ICU transfer), subacute care, long-term acute care hospital (LTACH) facility, or nursing home.
We help families through the admissions process with an action plan identifying critical next steps for families.
Conditions Treated at Shepherd Center
Shepherd Center provides specialized acute medical and rehabilitation care to adolescents and adults aged 12 and above, dealing with new complex neurological injuries or recent neurological illnesses. We offer comprehensive services for the following diagnoses:
- Traumatic spinal cord injury that has resulted in paraplegia, tetraplegia, or high tetraplegia (including ventilator-dependent patients)
- Non-traumatic spinal cord injury, such as spinal cord infarction, aneurysm
- Brain injury, encompassing traumatic brain injury, encephalitis, anoxia, and tumors, as well as those who are semi-comatose or minimally conscious
- Stroke (for individuals who are medically and functionally appropriate)
- Multiple Trauma (with or without brain or spinal cord injury)
- Traumatic amputations (with or without brain or spinal cord injury)
- Dual diagnosis (spinal cord and acquired brain injury)
- Neurological demyelinating illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- Spinal tumors
Services Not Provided at Shepherd Center
- Dialysis
Inpatient Admission Criteria
Eligibility for our inpatient programming is assessed based on the following criteria:
- Meeting Shepherd Center’s medical criteria for admission, including conditions we treat (see above list) and not requiring services we don’t provide (such as dialysis).
- Maintaining medical and surgical stability to ensure the best possible outcomes.
- Demonstrating the ability to participate and tolerate three hours of therapy per day.
- Possessing a support system to provide the next phase of care upon discharge.
Your Path to Healing Begins Here
Every individual's journey is unique, and deciding to pursue rehabilitation can feel overwhelming. That's why we encourage you to begin with an admissions inquiry. This process allows us to gain insight into your specific needs, determine the most appropriate level of care, and help you evaluate if our programming fits your specific rehabilitation goals.
Inpatient Admissions Resources
What to Look for in a Rehabilitation Hospital
When choosing a rehabilitation program, it’s important to be confident about the quality of care you or a loved one will receive. We recommend comparing options based on critical criteria so that you can make an informed decision.
Why Choose Shepherd Center?
Shepherd Center is named one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation by U.S. News. We’re the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit and acute medical components on-site, allowing us to begin the rehabilitation process sooner than other hospitals.
Insurance Information
We accept virtually all types of insurance plans, including workers’ compensation, traditional plans, managed care plans, and Medicaid. In cases where your insurance provider does not initially approve treatment at Shepherd, we can help negotiate coverage whenever possible.