Swedish Covenant Hospital is located in northwestern Chicago, convenient to Evanston and Skokie, and is home to one of Chicago's most state-of-the-art health clubs, the Galter LifeCenter. Please click on any of the links below to learn more about our specialty programs:
To make an appointment for any of these programs, please call the appointment center at (773) 878-6888. For information on what is required for physical therapy, please read these frequently asked questions >. For more information on our specialized programs, please call (773) 989-1681, Ext. 1682.
Hand Therapy
People with a variety of injuries and neurological conditions regain maximum use of their hands and upper body through Swedish Covenant Hospital's Hand and Upper Extremity Rehabilitation Center. Our certified hand therapists (CHTs) work closely with patients to assess the condition and then develop an individualized treatment plan. Our CHTs have a minimum of five years clinical experience (including 2,000 hours or more of direct practice in hand therapy), passed a comprehensive test of advanced clinical skills and theory in upper extremity rehabilitation, and take continuing education courses annually to maintain certification.
To help get people back to work and to their everyday lifestyle, therapy may include any one or more of the following:
- Supervised exercises for range of motion, strength, dexterity and pain relief
- Guided exercises for fine motor coordination
- The Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment System, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation tool that duplicates the physical challenges of everyday tasks
- Biometrics' E-LINK system, a computerized upper extremity evaluation and exercise system for strength, range of motion and endurance
- Acute and chronic pain management
- Splints to prevent or correct injury
- Retraining on activities of daily living
- Work conditioning, ergonomics education and work station modifications
- Family and caregiver education to ensure you get the support you need
- Close coordination and communication with your primary care physician
Benefits Of Hand & Upper Extremity Therapy
The benefits of hand and upper extremity therapy apply to a wide audience such as workers involved with heavy equipment, data entry and assembly line; athletes; musicians; and chronic arthritis sufferers. Their variety of conditions and situations include:
- Fractures
- Tendinitis and tendon injuries, sprains and strains
- Nerve injuries and nerve compression
- Arthritis
- Amputation
- Burns
- Carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries
- Work-related injuries
Requirements For Hand Therapy
Each treatment plan is completely customized to the patient's unique needs and situation. Hand therapy is offered on an outpatient basis. Treatment length varies. You must have a physician's order for hand therapy. Treatment is covered by most insurance policies; check with your carrier to be sure.
Sports Medicine Therapy
From "weekend warrior" to well-conditioned athlete, all levels of sports' enthusiasts run the risk of injury. Our sports medicine specialists teach safe and effective techniques to help restore function, promote physical fitness and return sports' enthusiasts to their activities.
Therapy begins with a thorough evaluation and assessment to determine the best course of treatment and may include any one or more of the following:
- Pain management and inflammation reduction
- Soft tissue and joint mobilization
- A customized exercise program including stretching, monitored cardiovascular training, resistance training and stabilization exercises
- Sport-specific conditioning and biomechanics training
- Education on proper body mechanics and re-injury prevention
- Aquatic therapy in a dedicated warm-water therapy pool
Benefits of sports medicine therapy
Those who can benefit from sports medicine therapy may be experiencing:
- Post-surgical deconditioning
- Sport-specific injuries such as golfer's elbow and runners
- Sprains, strains and other soft tissue injuries
- Tendinitis and tendon injuries
- Cartilage and ligament tears
- Repetitive stress injuries
- Back sprains and strains, disk herniations
- Bio-mechanical injuries
The program is staffed with its own group of sports enthusiasts - with backgrounds as triathletes and marathon runners and specialized training in sports related injuries and on-the-field experience - our physical sports therapists really know how to relate to their clients' goals.
Incontinence And Pelvic Pain
For the more than 18 million Americans suffering from urinary incontinence and pelvic pain, finding the appropriate medical attention and program can be a challenge in itself. At the forefront of providing care in this specialty is Swedish Covenant Hospital's Incontinence and Pelvic Pain Program. Using an exercise-based behavior approach, patients experience long-term relief and regain confidence in enjoying everyday activities.
Specially trained and highly skilled physical therapists at Swedish Covenant Hospital work with patients to improve or eliminate incontinence, reduce pain and improve overall quality of life. Therapy components include:
- Instruction on exercises to strengthen and re-educate the pelvic floor muscles
- Biofeedback, which allows the patient to view muscle activity on a computer screen and reinforces effective muscle work
- Bladder retraining
- Education on proper posture and body mechanics
- Electric stimulation to help strengthen very weak pelvic floor muscles
- Manual therapy
Benefits of incontinence program
Men and women with stress, urgency or mixed incontinence may benefit from therapy. For people with these conditions, incontinence is caused by weakness in the pelvic floor muscles, overactivity of the bladder muscle or a combination of both.
Others with the following conditions may also benefit from therapy:
- Underlying urinary tract infection
- Chronic condition such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes
- Prior surgery
- Radiation therapy
- Trauma to the bladder
Especially with the elderly, incontinence can be triggered by certain over-the-counter and prescription drugs, restricted mobility or delirium.
Benefits of pelvic pain program
People with pelvic pain conditions can also be treated and their symptoms improved with therapy. These conditions include:
- Pre- and post-natal back pain
- Prolapse
- Pain during intercourse or penetration
- Scar tissue restriction
- Interstitial cystitis
- Other chronic painful conditions of the pelvic area
For women, pelvic floor muscle strength is essential to supporting the bladder and uterus, and pregnancy and childbirth can significantly weaken pelvic floor muscles.
Vestibular Therapy
Dizziness is so prevalent a condition that it is the third most frequent reason people see their doctors and a common reason for emergency room visits. People who suffer from dizziness and balance problems often have to see several specialists before finding relief.
As part of Swedish Covenant Hospital's comprehensive and advanced set of rehabilitation services, sufferers can now receive expert help and effective treatment. Through the Vestibular Rehabilitation and Balance Retraining Program, specially trained physical therapists help patients overcome dizziness and restore the vital function of balance to everyday life.
Vestibular therapy begins with a thorough evaluation and assessment to determine the best course of treatment. Each treatment plan is customized to the patient's unique needs and situation and may include any one or more of the following:
- Canalith repositioning for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, a series of specific maneuvers to reposition the crystals that naturally form in the inner ear
- Balance retraining exercises to improve coordination and organization of sensory information
- Supervised exercise on fitness equipment for strength and endurance
- Gait training
- Visual retraining for perception problems
- Instruction on fall prevention and ways to live more safely
- Family and caregiver education to ensure you get the support you need
- Close coordination and communication with your referring physician
Benefits of vestibular therapy and balance retraining
Those who may have Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) may benefit from Vestibular Therapy and balance retraining. BPPV is the most common cause of dizziness and is an easily cured condition caused by the displacement of naturally forming crystals within the inner ear.
The program may benefit others experiencing balance problems associated with:
- Viral and bacterial infections
- Trauma to the ear or head
- Side effects from medication
- Tumors or Meniere's disease (an inner ear disorder)
Outpatient Neurological Services
The Day Rehabilitation Program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago provides structured therapy to help those recovering from stroke, surgery, life-altering injuries and other conditions to get back into the community and return to their normal lives.
In the Day Rehabilitation Program, each patient is evaluated and treated by a multidisciplinary team of therapists and physicians, who design a treatment regimen around the patient's needs.
What makes the Day Rehabilitation Program different from standard outpatient rehabilitation is the intensity of care if provides: patients are often seen three to five times a week, for two to four hours a day, especially in the early stages of rehabilitation.
Patients engage in a full range of real-life activities, from something as simple as dressing, learning complex activities such as how to safely take a shopping trip.
To accommodate patients who need help getting to and from the clinic, the Day Rehabilitation Program offers transportation that will pick patients up from their home and take them back after therapy.
Day Rehabilitation Team
With the Day Rehabilitation Program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, patients are evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of physicians and therapists who work together to get patients back into life after leaving the hospital. This rehabilitation team includes:
- Occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, and recreational therapists, focused on improving a patient's mobility, daily living skills, language and communication, swallowing and community re-entry.
- Nurses, who educate patients and their families on medications, wound and skin care, colostomy care, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) care and diabetes care.
- Psychologists, who address neurocognitive behavior and function, counseling for depression, pain management, relaxation and family and patient education. They also provide neuropsychological testing where appropriate.
- Rehabilitation physician specialists, who overlook patient progress and make referrals to vocational services and driving evaluations.
- Case managers, who coordinate discharge planning and provide information on community and support services.
The program director is Ketki Modi, DO.
Aquatic Physical Therapy
We are pleased to operate one of the few hospital based aquatic programs, In Chicago, in a true therapy pool here at the Galter Life Center. In aquatic physical therapy, a patient exercises in a therapeutic pool, assisted and supervised by a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant.
Aquatic physical therapy makes use of the buoyancy and resistance that are natural properties of water to help facilitate the physical therapy treatment program. The pool is kept between 91 and 93 degrees which allow the muscles to relax and improves circulation to the joints. Goals of an aquatic physical therapy program may include improved joint range of motion or flexibility, increased strength, improved cardiovascular condition and endurance, increased postural or core stabilization, as well as many others.
For certain patients, an aquatic environment is a better choice than land for physical therapy. The total contact of the water can also help to decrease muscle spasticity in certain patients, making normal motion easier. Although aquatic therapy can benefit a large number of patients, it is not for everyone. There are a number of conditions that would make it unsafe to have a patient participate in aquatic physical therapy.
Patients with open wounds, certain skin conditions, and bowel or bladder incontinence are unfortunately not good candidates for aquatic physical therapy. Typically patients attend the aquatics program for approximately 4 weeks at which point they progress onto more traditional land based therapy or continue independently with the exercises
Work Conditioning
Swedish Covenant Hospital's Work Conditioning Program uses a multidisciplinary approach to restore function, promote physical fitness and prepare clients to return to work.
Beginning with a comprehensive functional capacity evaluation, the specialist will assess functional deficits, dexterity, range-of-motion, strength and reflexes. He/she will also conduct a full anatomical and neurological exam, evaluate pain perception using a standard questionnaire, and determine lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling capacity.
Each treatment plan is individualized and may include any one or more of the following:
- A customized exercise program including stretching, monitored cardiovascular training, resistance training and stabilization exercises
- Work simulation activities using Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation tool that objectively measures job-specific abilities and provides job simulation
- Precise measurements using Biometrics' E-LINK, a computerized evaluation system that determines the client's disability rating for upper extremity usage
- Aquatics therapy in the warm-water therapy pool
- Education on soft tissue healing, the value of exercise, proper posture, body mechanics and re-injury prevention
- Group exercise sessions and weekly meetings
- Job site analysis and suggested modifications
Benefits of work conditioning
People who can benefit from the Work Conditioning Program are those having:
- Soft tissue injuries
- Resolved surgeries (at least three weeks post-surgery)
- Healed fractures (at least three weeks post-surgery)
- No medical contraindications to activity-based rehabilitation
- Ability to benefit from exercises
