Swing Bed – Goodland Regional Medical Center

Swing Bed Medicare Program

What is Swing Bed?

Swing Bed is a Medicare program that allows patients to receive skilled care services at Goodland Regional Medical Center once acute hospital care is no longer required, but the patient continues to need services that cannot be easily provided in the patient's home. The program is designed to assist patients in reaching their highest potential for health and independence prior to returning to their home, or previous living arrangement.

Who is Eligible?

Swing Bed is available to patients who have been hospitalized at Goodland Regional Medical Center, or at other facilities outside of the Goodland area. The program is ideal for patients who require skilled physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, IV medication therapy, wound care, or other skilled care services.

If you are interested in receiving additional information about Goodland Regional Medical Center's Swing bed program contact the Case Manager at 785-890-4088.

Swing Bed Admission

Swing Bed admission requires:

A three day acute care hospital stay immediately prior to admittance into the Swing Bed program.
Stable medical status
A daily skilled care need (or five days per week for Rehab), which is directly related to the acute care hospitalization.
Physician authorization
Participation in Medicare Part A, or other qualified insurance plan.

Once a patient is admitted into the Swing Bed program, eligibility is reviewed on a daily basis by the Case Management/ Discharge Planning staff. To remain in the program, the patient must be participating and making progress, in addition to the criteria listed above.

How Long Can I Stay?

The Swing Bed program is considered short-term. The average length of stay is generally one to two weeks. For stays longer than 40 days, the services of a long-term care facility may be more appropriate.

While Goodland Regional Medical Center can accept Swing Bed patients from other acute care facilities, we cannot always explain an admission decision. Due to HIPAA requirements, explanation of a patient's eligibility status may only be given by the patient's current acute care facility.