Eight years ago, Andrew Pacheco sustained a spinal cord injury (T10-T12),  resulting in paraplegia. Though now in a wheelchair, the 60-year-old from Pueblo continues to live an active life. Andrew works as a maintenance tech and enjoys fishing, car shows, and spending time with his brothers, son, and daughter.

Then, one day, Andrew fell out of his motorized wheelchair. He suffered fractures to his femur and his left tibia and fibula in the fall. In need of extended hospitalization, Andrew’s daughter began researching their options. She chose Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital for several reasons. First, the hospital was clean. Second, the large 6,000 sq. ft. therapy gym would benefit her father’s recovery. And the outcomes data was great, allowing her to feel confident in the care her Andrew would receive.

Jesse Martinez is 57 years old and lived in Denver, Colorado, working full-time for the city. He spends all the time he can with his family. He and his wife, Dawn, have three daughters and two grandchildren. Jesse taps into his creative side through music and used to work as a DJ. He also loves making art and enjoys watching football. He’s a huge Raiders fan.

On a day like any other, Jesse started experiencing a horrible headache. He went to an acute care hospital where they told Jesse he was suffering from a subdural hematoma and acute respiratory failure. His family chose to continue his recovery at Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital.

Jesse was appreciative of the support he received from the staff. “Everybody was so positive and helpful! The housekeeping staff always made me feel at home. The doctors and nurses were so positive.”

Although he improved, Jesse wasn’t quite ready to return home. He transferred to Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital to begin rehab. He was just as impressed with the NCRH staff as he was with NCLTAH. “Every staff member was so friendly and nice! I didn’t have one bad experience, and everyone always made me feel comfortable. When I went home, I really missed everyone. They were just like my family.”

Jesse discharged home in July and moved to Loveland, Colorado with his family. He is now retired, enjoying his peaceful life with his family. He’s happy to be around music again and is fixing up an old Chevy 1964.

“If it wasn’t for getting my care at these two facilities, I don’t know where I would be,” Jesse stated.

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!”