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Swing Bed

Provider caring for older woman in a wheelchair

Available at:

Service Overview

Swing-bed services are unique to rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) with a Medicare provider agreement that allows a patient to transition from acute care to Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) care without leaving the hospital. This allows a patient to continue receiving services in the hospital even though acute care is no longer required.

Patients get the continued care they need while recovering from an illness, injury or surgery. Our skilled staff provides on-site care, 24 hours a day, to help patients recover, close to home.

Make yourself a priority: it is all about how you recover.

Patients enjoy the comforts of home, while family has the piece of mind knowing their loved one is receiving the help they need. Length of stay may vary, but the quality of care is consistent.

Swing Bed Benefits

WhidbeyHealth has hospitalists on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as well as laboratory services, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging, respiratory therapy, dietitians and a licensed social worker – all to make your Swing Bed experience as comfortable as possible. Allowing you to relax with the knowledge that you’re receiving the care you need.

Nursing Care

  • Wound Care
  • Central Line management
  • Antibiotic therapies
  • Patient and Family Education

Rehabilitation Care

  • Physical, occupational, and speech therapies
  • Therapies scheduled as practical to what patients can tolerate
  • Home safety evaluations, animal assisted therapy, and community reintegration
Older man in hospital bed
Man drinking coffee while looking out the window
Woman in hospital bed visiting family

Getting Started

Medicare and most insurances cover Swing Bed programs. Specific criteria must be met to qualify for insurance coverage: 

  • Swing Bed stay must be related to a hospital stay.
  • The doctor must determine a need for daily skilled care (i.e. IV therapy, wound care, physical therapy)
  • Patient must be hospitalized as an acute care patient for at least 3 consecutive days and within 30 days of the initial hospital stay.
  • Admissions can be from WhidbeyHealth Medical Center but may also be from other area/regional hospitals, too.
  • Medicare patients must have Part A benefits

If you have a procedure coming up that will require a multiple-day hospital stay – get the extended care you need, close to home. WhidbeyHealth helps our patients and community achieve their goals through hospital-based skilled nursing care and rehabilitation.

Community Connection

As a Public Hospital District, WhidbeyHealth is owned by the taxpayers of Whidbey Island, and we are committed to providing local access to quality health care.

Comprehensive Care

WhidbeyHealth offers a broad range of flexible, patient-centric care in more than 25 service areas with convenient locations across the entire island from Oak Harbor to Clinton.

Close to Home

An exceptional team supports a broad range of inpatient and outpatient services so our community doesn’t have to travel off-island for many of their healthcare needs.

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