Anyone who needs care and assistance in recovering from an illness or a surgery can find special encouragement and professional treatment in the Upswing Recovery Care unit at St. Joseph Hospital in Murphysboro.

Patients who remain in the hospital for rehabilitation after recovering from pneumonia or some other debilitating illness that causes lengthy time in bed, or perhaps a stroke or recovery from joint surgery, for instance, would give the patient the opportunity to participate in the Upswing program.

The team on staff at St. Joseph’s can provide physical and occupational therapy as well as speech therapy if required.

“We want people to return home safely,” Julie Tiu said. She is rehabilitation manager for in-patients in Upswing Recovery.

Training is also available for family members who are integral to the care of their loved ones and caregivers. “We bring in (caregivers), train them and do demonstrations,” Tiu said, again with an eye toward safety.

Each program is individualized according to a patient’s needs, she said. Tiu said the program has “an excellent crew who are passionate about their work and the patients.”

One of the team members, Julie Murphy, a physical therapy assistant, said her goal is always to assist patients, so they are “able to manage with the help they have,” which includes getting into and out of bed.
People who don’t need help have no idea how difficult it can be just to get out of bed each morning and complete other activities many folks take for granted.

Murphy has better than 20 years of experience working with rehabilitation services. “I know how to motivate people and when to encourage them. I love for people to get home again.”

Ilis Zavalla, just as enthusiastic about helping others as Murphy, has been working in the program since September.

She interviews those she will help so she can find out what the person is able to do before she begins. “I want to see how much help someone needs,” Zavalla said.