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SYCAMORE – Kindred Hospital celebrated its 31st anniversary as a long-term acute care facility in Sycamore with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday.
Jim Cohick, chief executive officer of the hospital at 225 Edward St., said the hospital opened in 1986 under the name Vencor and reorganized under Kindred in 1999.
Members of the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce, hospital staff and community members gathered in front of the hospital Friday for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting and to hear Cohick say a few words about Kindred’s presence in the community.
Cohick said the purpose of the open house was to showcase the hospital’s partnerships with Kindred at Home, Kindred Hospice, Kindred’s RehabCare and Pay-It-Forward House, the nonprofit residence for family members of patients in long-term recovery.
He said Kindred Hospital patients stay for an average of 25 days, but some stay as long as 40 or more days depending on their needs.
The hospital provides specialized long-term acute care to medically complex patients requiring continued care who are unable to recover completely in the short-term setting at a regular hospital.
“We take care of chronically ill, medically complex patients, so it could be someone has a chronic condition, requires dialysis, has issues with breathing, or possibly wound-type issues,” Cohick said. “Most of our patients have at least two significant things they’re dealing with, so that creates the complexity.”
Cohick said the hospital takes referrals from a wide area extending to most of Illinois, excluding Chicago. Common partners include Kishwaukee Hospital, Sherman Hospital and Saint Joseph in Elgin, Saint Anthony Medical Center and Rockford Memorial in Rockford, among others.
Penny Stark, a hospice specialist for Kindred, said she would like community members to be aware of all the services Kindred provides through its “continuum of care,” including hospice care, which tends to be misunderstood.
“Really what we wanted to do was celebrate, first of all, 30 years of service to the community, and really kind of share with the community how Kindred has grown and all of the different service lines that are available, to be able to showcase the continuum of care,” she said.