Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital

11/11/2025

Honoring all who served.

11/06/2025

Steve Messick’s Guillain-Barré Syndrome diagnosis came with a chilling pronouncement: if he ever walked again, it might be years in the future. Instead, with the help of his care team at Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, the 53-year-old, who coached Little League football every fall for three decades, was back on the sidelines again this year. Walking.

Read more about Steve: https://bit.ly/4qMHv2K

10/23/2025

Behind every patient with a spinal cord injury is a licensed pharmacist. The pharmacist—an essential member of the physician-led multidisciplinary team—helps to manage the patient’s pain, prevent secondary complications, and assists with transition and discharge planning.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) patients require a complex level of care. Pharmacists play an integral role in a patient’s care journey, providing expertise on SCI pain management, secondary complications, avoidance of adverse drug effects and a safe discharge to home.

10/23/2025

Each of our specialty hospitals operates an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP), a coordinated effort between our pharmacy team, clinicians, environmental services and infection preventionists to stop the spread of infections caused by drug-resistant diseases. Our pharmacies ensure the safety and care of our patients and staff by managing and assessing all anti-microbial regimens.

10/23/2025

As Thomas Caskey was recuperating from a stroke, a social worker at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center suggested Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital might help him recover and regain his independence. With constant encouragement from the Penn State Health Rehab team, Thomas regained much of his strength and his speech has greatly improved.

10/22/2025

From fielding the first call about a new hospital location to welcoming the first patient through the door, our design, construction and facilities teams can be counted on to help create a healing environment.

Our design and construction teams oversee all hospital building projects—ensuring safety and efficiency in the engineering and ex*****on of plans. Once constructed, hospitals are turned over to our facilities teams who oversee day-to-day operations, including the physical building infrastructure, air quality and maintenance of all medical equipment.

Working together, these professionals contribute to a safe, comfortable and accessible setting for our patients, visitors and staff.

10/20/2025

Across our nationwide network of hospitals, infection preventionists work closely with our our health care facility teams and patients to implement needed steps to block infections and prevent them from spreading.

Strategies include water and air quality testing, remote surveillance for infection prevention, enforced personal protective equipment (PPE) usage and sanitation protocols for infection control.

During Health Care Quality Week, we recognize our infection preventionists for the key role they play in the safety and well-being of our patients, staff and the communities they serve.

10/19/2025

Our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians strive to administer the lowest effective dose of pain medication while ensuring that patients can participate in necessary activities. They coordinate these efforts alongside our multidisciplinary team as they discuss the needs of patients.

Each patient’s pain management is evaluated during clinical team meetings and multidisciplinary rounds to ensure adequate pain control. The team strives to balance pain management, cognitive function and therapy participation with the goal of minimizing medication dependence and enhancing patient outcomes.

10/17/2025

Physical therapy treats impairment and functional limitation through exercises, stretches and movements. Physical therapists are highly skilled medical professionals who diagnose and help individuals recover their health and get back to life.

10/15/2025

When a patient is admitted to one of our specialty hospitals, a case manager is present to help coordinate care while guiding families and caregivers throughout the recovery journey. Serving as a central point of communication, case managers support patients as they transition to the next level of care or when preparing to discharge.

10/13/2025

One of the case manager’s key responsibilities is looking around corners—determining a patient’s medical and social service needs after they leave the hospital. Our case managers coordinate meetings with patients, their families and the clinical team, explaining the various levels of care and verbally reviewing what to expect. Additionally, case managers can assist with ordering medical equipment that the patient needs for their return home.

10/03/2025

Gretchen Duda was diagnosed with breast cancer just shy of her 39th birthday. After successfully beating cancer through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, she found herself with physical limitations as a result of the life-saving treatment she received.

Within the Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital Outpatient Center, Gretchen worked with physical, occupational and speech therapists through the ReVital Cancer Rehabilitation program. ReVital helps those in remission or currently undergoing cancer treatment get back to the things that matter most.