♪♪ [Dr. Dorsett] Generally, as we're all doing our daily lives, we're not thinking that at some point we may not be able to, uh, move an arm or a leg or be in a... a... an accident and then not be able to function.

- Dr. Dorsett knows how the loss of use of a limb or a brain injury can devastate not just a patient, but their entire family.

That's why he's excited to share the news about UC Davis' new Rehabilitation Hospital.

[Dr. Dorsett] Part of our job is to educate the families, educate the patients, and also educate the population that this is available.

- Step up, right there.

Come forward just a little bit.

- The rehabilitation hospital utilizes advanced technology, equipment and resources to maximize each patient's delivery of care and ability to regain what was lost.

[Dr. Dorsett] Patients do well with acute inpatient rehabilitation, whether it's a dedicated freestanding rehab hospital or a... a unit within a... a... a main hospital.

But having the... the full team available to be able to treat all those different aspects of the... the person, in order to improve their quality of life, that's what helps with outcomes and... and improving patients' overall ability to be independent, utilizing robotics to assist with, uh, upper extremity, uh, movements.

- Sometimes, the rehabilitation efforts must go well beyond just physical healing.

♪♪ [Dr. Dorsett] Some patients have been in the hospital for a long time.

Uh, oftentimes, patients have significant impairments that affect their mood, it affects their, uh, interactions with their family.

So, as a rehabilitation team with the physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, uh, uh, uh, social worker, case manager, uh, our neuropsychologists, uh, we all work as a team to help identify areas, uh, that... that we can have an impact in improving their overall quality of life.

- You can do it.

- OK. One, two, three.

- There are private rooms for every patient, including a complete apartment for patients' families within the hospital.

That allows families to assist with potential behavioral issues and stay with the patient to help them make a smooth and safe transition home after leaving the hospital.

[Dr. Dorsett] So, it's beneficial not only for the patients that need rehabilitation services, but it's also extremely beneficial for the hospital system itself.

It, uh, uh, allows us to then be able to, um, potentially get the patients out of the acute hospital a little bit earlier.

So, that frees up some beds in the acute hospital so that the patients aren't staying in the, uh, emergency department overnight, uh, or in the PACU overnight because of the, uh, limited amount of hospital beds that we have on the acute site.

- UC Davis believes this new rehab hospital will advance their ability to expand their focus on education, as well as have a lasting impact on the community.

[Dr. Dorsett] UC Davis is a major school of medicine, school of nursing.

Uh, we have education, uh, aspects for continuing with neuropsychology, with, uh, dietary medicine, with, uh, a multitude of aspects of the health care field.

This acute rehab hospital is an integral part of that and is in the process of continuing those activities.

- You did a good job, first of all.

So, high five.

- Thank you, baby.

[Dr. Dorsett] We're, uh, planning on doing the best we can to treat as many patients as we can, to get the patients what they need in order to get home safely.

This Digital Short is supported by UC Davis Health, home to the number one ranked medical center in Sacramento.

By US News and World Report.

Learn more about their doctors and their passion for advancing health at health.ucdavis.edu.