New Canaan’s Waveny LifeCare Network reopened its outpatient facilities in February after almost two years of closure due to the Covid pandemic. The timing of the closure was especially unfortunate since the facilities were recently upgraded and modernized, according to Suzanne Cleary, Waveny LifeCare Network’s director of rehabilitation.
“We renovated our outpatient department in the year before we closed through a grant from the New Canaan Community Foundation,” Cleary said. “They provided some new state-of-the-art equipment, and we did some redesigning. And the Corbett Family speech therapy facility was also set up to provide services from a newly renovated room. All that had happened just in the year before we closed.”
Since the start of the pandemic, Waveny continued most of its in-patient and residential care services. But to ensure the safety of residents and long-term patients, it became necessary to limit visits by all but the most essential personnel and to suspend outpatient services.
“We received calls all during the period we were closed asking when we were going to reopen,” Cleary said. “They came in daily and we always had to apologize and say, ‘Not yet, not yet.’ We’re very happy that it’s actually coming to fruition and that the demand has been high.”
Waveny is still staffing up to meet community demand, although scheduling has also been complicated by the sudden return of many patients all at the same time when operations resumed.
Among the programs that the health center offers are the LSVT Big and Loud Program, administered by therapists certified in specialized programs. Big and Loud is designed to help patients with Parkinson’s disease handle their symptoms.
“This technique uses big and loud movements to facilitate movement,” Cleary explained. “Patients with Parkinson’s tend to sort of shuffle, their movements get very small. This program uses exercises to reopen those pathways so they can speak loudly and move better.”
The program involves work with both physical therapists and certified speech therapists, and Cleary pointed out that the program is designed not only to provide direct treatment, but to also give patients the tools to continue taking care of themselves.
“The idea is that you will transition into your own maintenance program after that one-month period,” Cleary said.
The other new program is Vital Stim, where a certified speech therapist uses electrical stimulation of a patient’s vocal cords to help ensure function. It is also primarily for Parkinson’s patients.
“We’re always looking for ways for our therapists to improve their skills, and as people become certified we try and let the community know,” Cleary said. She also emphasized that there are currently spots available in many of their patient programs but that they are going fast.
