Nationally Recognized Programs

Recognized Programs

Inpatient rehabilitation services are provided through our rehabilitation hospitals located in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

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Certified in Respiratory Failure

Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital is the first hospital in Colorado to earn The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Respiratory Failure. We are proud to be a “Center of Excellence” for all respiratory failure patients, including those who require prolonged ventilator management and weaning.

Respiratory failure occurs when there isn’t enough oxygen passing from the lungs into the body’s blood stream to help the body’s organs – such as the heart and brain – function properly. We treat numerous medical, surgical, or traumatic conditions that can potentially result in respiratory failure, including:

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Pneumonia
• Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
• Other medical or surgical complications that require Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation
• Interstitial Lung Disease and other Pulmonary Diseases that require high flow oxygen
• Conditions that affect the nerves and muscles that control breathing, such as stroke, spinal cord injuries, and Muscular Dystrophy

To achieve the best possible results for our patients, we utilize best practices and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. These include:

• Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation
• Mechanical Ventilation Weaning
• Patient Nutrition
• Patient Positioning

Recognized Nationally for Respiratory Care Services

Respiratory therapists at Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital work closely with physicians and staff to provide a wide range of services to patients such as ventilator weaning, tracheostomy care, and pulmonary disease management.

These efforts have earned us the national Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) from the American Association for Respiratory Care. This designation is given to facilities that meet strict safety and quality standards related to providing respiratory care. Our hospital is among 700 nationwide – or 15 percent – to receive this recognition.

The American Association for Respiratory Care started this program in 2003 to help patients and families make informed decision about the quality of respiratory care available in hospitals.

To qualify for the recognition, a hospital has to meet certain requirements, including:

  • Respiratory care therapists are available 24 hours a day, with all legally recognized or credentialed to provide respiratory care services;
  • Respiratory care therapists provide patient assessments and make clinical recommendations regarding service needs and plans of care;
  • A competency-based training program in place for all personnel administering respiratory care;
  • A physician is designated as medical director of respiratory care services, who consistently reviews plans of care for respiratory patients.

QRCR hospitals such as Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital meet stringent national standards and guidelines for respiratory care services, validating that they embrace the ever-present challenge of achieving maximum, measurable results for their patients.

National Quality Achievement Award

Ernest Health, which includes Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital, has been recognized nationally for its work in nutrition management and administration for patients being weaned from ventilators in its critical care hospitals.

The initiative, which was initiated and led by Cindy Tew, Ernest Health’s Director of Clinical Programs and Resources and Anne Woodbury, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Utah Valley Specialty Hospital, won the 2017 Quality Achievement Award from the National Association of Long Term Hospitals.

The initiative explored if there were specific nutritional indicators that could be tracked that might influence ventilator weaning. In particular, the initiative focused on finding if the level of protein provided to a ventilated patient had any effect on the success of weaning the patient off the ventilator.

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