“Swing Bed” or Skilled Care Services is a concept developed by Medicare in the 1970’s to help rural healthcare utilize local care and keep adequate healthcare in the rural areas of America. This concept has resulted in most rural hospitals becoming Critical Access Hospitals like Horton Community Hospital.A swing bed doesn’t swing physically, but it swings in the way Medicare reimburses for the care provided to the patient. Patients being treated for an acute condition can..

Swing Bed


“Swing Bed” or Skilled Care Services is a concept developed by Medicare in the 1970’s to help rural healthcare utilize local care and keep adequate healthcare in the rural areas of America.  This concept has resulted in most rural hospitals becoming Critical Access Hospitals like Horton Community Hospital.

A swing bed doesn’t swing physically, but it swings in the way Medicare reimburses for the care provided to the patient.  Patients being treated for an acute condition can remain in the hospital for follow-up care rather than be discharged to home before they are ready.  The swing bed program also prevents being discharged to a nursing home for rehabilitation or further strengthening that is only needed for a a limited time before the patient can return to their prior living arrangements.  Swing bed patients may have been hospitalized at HCH and require more time to heal, or they may have been hospitalized in a facility away from home and transferred back to HCH for their swing bed stay.

Areas of care provided by our Swing Bed services include:

  • Wound Care
  • IV Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech Therapy
  • 24 hour Nursing Care
  • Pain Managment
  • Extended Recovery Time 
Swing Bed
Medical Services
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