Richard Lewis loves spending time outdoors doing activities like hunting, fishing, and hiking. He works full-time as a maintenance supervisor for a condominium complex. Married 41 years, Richard and his wife love to spend time with their two daughters and four grandchildren.
On Richard’s 41st wedding anniversary, he planned to take his wife to the Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort. Their plans changed when he got exposed to COVID-19 and later tested positive. His wife had to call an ambulance because he was having difficulty breathing.
Richard doesn’t remember much from his acute hospitalization. He does remember his physicians recommending Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital for their great ventilator weaning process. He had an acute hypoxic respiratory failure from COVID-19 and required a tracheostomy.
With a long road to recovery ahead of him, Richard arrived at NCLTAH. He worked hard with his care team to gain his strength back. Richard said, “All of my therapists have made therapy fun. They push me to be successful. The staff is so encouraging, and that has influenced my recovery!”
All the support and encouragement from his care team helped Richard to achieve his goals. “I love how the staff always tells me how well I am doing, it’s a real incentive for me to succeed and get home!” Richard is already seeing progress and is standing only needing some oxygen.
As Richard continues to work towards his recovery, he looks forward to returning home. He wants to focus on getting back to work and back to his hobbies like hunting and fishing. He said, “Every single staff member has been great. I can’t say enough about how great this experience has been. They are so great at what they do!”