Acquired Brain Injury Inpatient Program

How to access

• Check eligibillity

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  This program is for residents of Vancouver Coastal Health and the Yukon. We provide specialized rehabilitation services for older adolescents and adults who have sustained a brain injury due to one of the following causes:

  • Traumatic force to the head causing brain damage (e.g. motor vehicle injuries, falls and assaults)
  • Stroke caused by embolisms, thrombosis and aneurysms
  • Lack of oxygen to the brain from near drowning, cardiac arrest (heart stops beating) and drug overdose
  • Infections affecting the brain (meningitis and/or encephalitis)
  • Toxic exposure (alcohol, other drug use, toxic inhalants)
  • Brain tumours

  We do not see clients with Functional Neurological Disorders as a primary diagnosis.

  Patients must meet the G.F. Strong inpatient admission criteria

• Get a referral

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  Referrals must be made by a physician or nurse practitioner. For information on how to make a referral, please call 604-737-6291.

  Have your physician or nurse practitioner complete the G.F. Strong Inpatient Rehabilitation Referral Form and fax the completed form to the Intake Office at 604-730-7904.

  Inpatient rehabilitation referral form

• Waitlist information

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  While everyone’s experience will be different, below is a snapshot of a typical process that your care team will follow when you are considered for rehab and the resulting wait time frames:  

  1. The acute care team requests a physiatry (physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor) consultation. 
  2. Typically, a physiatrist meets with you while you are in the hospital to assist with current care and determine rehabilitation needs (this could be inpatient, outpatient, or no follow-up needed). If you need intensive inpatient rehabilitation, the acute care team will submit a referral to the appropriate rehab facility.   
  3. If G.F. Strong is determined to be the best place to meet your rehabilitation needs, the wait time is dependent on several factors, including but not limited to: 
     1. Your medical stability 
     2. Your endurance 
     3. Your diagnosis   
     4. Your ability to actively participate in rehabilitation.   
  4. Your wait time can be variable, but we do our best to plan for a short wait in the hospital once you are ready for rehab. If you are accepted to an inpatient program, you may be transferred with short notice to G.F. Strong or be waiting for a period of time. We recognize that the move to G.F. Strong can feel like a very long wait, depending on your situation. 
  5. You may be moved to the Transitional Rehab unit at G.F. Strong before returning home or to one of the other three inpatient programs.