When a patient survives what once felt insurmountable—a life-threatening disease or a traumatic accident—euphoria from the successful outcome can quickly dissipate into fearful thoughts about the future. Will they be able to resume “normal” life and activities? How much stronger can they realistically get? Will they truly heal? And what can they expect once they are back at home or work?

It’s essential to recognize each patient’s journey to recovery is unique, and thriving and enjoying life as a survivor is possible. That’s where rehabilitation therapy plays a vital role in a patient’s healing and quality of life.

Speech Therapist Jayme Stolz practices "s" sounds with triplets Emma, Milly, and Kate Kamienski.

Customized Treatments

Torrance Memorial Medical Center Rehabilitation Services offers a 360-degree, comprehensive program of diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic services to return patients to their physical best following illness, injury or surgery. Torrance Memorial’s nationally recognized programs provide rehabilitative treatments for nearly all needs—including emergency room care, post-op care and home services.

“When you come to Torrance Memorial for rehabilitation therapy, our expert team evaluates your condition(s), needs and goals before creating a specific program just for you,” explains physical therapist Tracey Mullan, Torrance Memorial’s director of rehabilitation services.

Whether a patient requires occupational, physical or speech and swallowing therapy—or a combined therapeutic approach—the therapists treat each patient uniquely, utilizing proven therapeutic techniques to treat a host of needs. The 108 talented therapists and staff members provide each patient with an individualized treatment plan—from simple to complex.

“We see a wide variety of patients and treat all age groups at the hospital. Our therapists can assist more people than most realize,” Mullan says.

For instance, the rehab team assists children with speech and genetic swallowing disorders—as well as adults recovering from strokes, neurological conditions, heart attacks, cancer, orthopedic surgery and more. They also help patients with less complicated conditions, such as sports injuries and arthritis.

Team Rehab

Front: Von Llave, OT; Marina Shelton, SLP; Tracey Mullan, PT, Director of Rehabilitation Services

Back: Lynn Riley, PT; Benito Hernandez, PT; Cindy Keus, PT

Thinking Outside the Box

The experienced rehabilitation therapists at Torrance Memorial often think outside the box to better assist patients with multiple health issues. For instance, a cancer survivor who had positive outcomes with surgery, chemo and radiation treatments may seek physical therapy to ease frozen muscles around the shoulders, chest and neck that cause pain, headaches, sleep disruption and limited mobility.

During the consultation, the patient reveals difficulty chewing and mentions joint pain in her hands and wrists—a common side effect of post-treatment medications. Her therapist takes note of the patient’s swollen arms and legs due to stagnant lymph flow. This patient will benefit from a multidisciplinary team approach with a swallowing specialist, a lymphedema expert and a certified hand therapist to ease joint pain.

In addition, shadow conditions spurred from the patient’s painful conditions limiting exercise, sleep and range of motion must be addressed. Has the patient gained significant weight? Do they exhibit signs of pre-diabetes? Are they depressed? If so, the patient will need referrals for further testing or to see a psychologist for depression/anxiety.

“Our therapy staff have a diverse scope of expertise and evaluate all patients’ needs to optimize treatment plans, find additional resources and maximize outcomes for success,” explains Mullan. “It is also important to communicate what skilled therapists should not be ordered for—to dress and/or groom patients, perform as a personal trainer, or for patients who are at their functional baseline.”

She says the ultimate goal for all the rehabilitation therapists—no matter the approach, specialty or treatment plan—is to help patients move from simply enduring their painful conditions to living well, enjoying life and navigating their future with support and confidence.

A Range of Services

The medical center’s rehabilitation services department offers a full range of therapeutic services. Each type has a unique function and purpose.

Physical Therapy (PT) – According to the American Physical Therapy Association, physical therapists are trained and licensed movement experts who can diagnose and treat a large range of injuries, disabilities and health conditions. Therapists aim to improve a person’s range of movement and quality of life and to prevent further injury or disability.

At Torrance Memorial, two-thirds of PT treatment is done at the West Tower for orthopedic diagnoses and even more at South Bay Ortho Rehab. More physical therapists work in America than ever before, and the number of certified therapists has doubled since 2022. For patients who suffer from a wide range of conditions—including sports injuries, disabilities, traumatic accidents, lymphedema, neurological disease and other mobility challenges—PT has proven to be an integral part of recovery

Speech and Swallowing Therapy – The Torrance Memorial speech and swallowing rehabilitation program offers a comprehensive range of services. Therapists assist people of all ages, from young children to seniors.

Evaluation and treatment services are available for speech and language disorders, neurological conditions, geriatric-related conditions, swallowing disorders and voice and articulation disorders. Therapists work within the hospital (all units) and with outpatients, including those undergoing radiation for head and neck cancer.

“The Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) team provides assessment and treatment for patients with various diagnoses and utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to serve our patients best. The acute-care SLP therapists work with the radiology team when performing videofluoroscopic swallow studies and collaborate with respiratory therapists when working with patients with tracheostomy tubes,” explains speech pathologist Jennifer Karmelich.

The SLP team works with radiation oncology staff to complete baseline swallow evaluations for patients undergoing radiation for head and neck cancer. SLP therapists work with physical and occupational therapists to provide functional treatment for both pediatric and adult outpatients.

“As a team, we value the patients and the goals they have set for themselves, and we include their family members in optimizing treatment outcomes,” Karmelich adds.

Occupational Therapy (OT) – This therapy aims to help individuals with injuries or disabilities regain independence and self-sufficiency in performing daily living skills, such as eating, dressing and working. OT provides individualized rehabilitative treatment, as well as assistive devices and durable medical equipment evaluations. Patients and families are instructed on the proper and safe use of appropriate equipment to improve safety and independence.

“Occupational therapy treatments are individually tailored to improve a myriad of physical, neurological and psychosocial issues that may have developed from an accident, surgery, or a developmental or medical condition,” says occupational therapist Wanda L. Weimer.

Torrance Memorial’s OT team has established treatment regimens for hand injuries, upper-extremity orthopedic or neurological conditions, arthritis, traumatic brain injuries, stroke and Parkinson’s disease, developmental delays, lymphedema, cancer, ergonomics and difficulties with daily activities.

A therapist will base rehab programs around the occupations that matter most to a person. Depending on the setting, these occupations can look quite different on the surface.

For instance, in a school setting, occupational therapists focus on developmental milestones and help children develop skills to function appropriately in a classroom. For in-home health, therapists prioritize home safety and create occupation-based treatments—allowing individuals to safely navigate their home activities and environment. In an outpatient clinic, treatments address upper-extremity injuries that limit performance at work, at home, or in a sport or hobby.

When it comes to acute care, occupational therapists focus on assessing and treating patient activities of daily living skills, assisting in early mobilization, and performing therapeutic interventions that directly impact a patient’s chances of recovery and their overall discharge plan.

Certified Hand Therapists – The OT team also includes three certified hand therapists who assist with hand and wrist issues. There are only 6,044 certified hand therapists in America today. The Torrance Memorial team has recently developed an effective new treatment protocol in decreasing hand pain in breast cancer patients who suffer when taking Aromatase inhibitor medications.

Rehabilitation therapy—whether OT, PT or SLP—has the multifaceted benefit of being both recuperative and preventive. The critical and immediate aspect of therapy is to assist patients with balance, mobility, strength, flexibility or recovered speech, motion or ability. On the other hand, therapy has the ripple effect of prevention by thwarting shadow health conditions that often appear months and years after injury, illness, surgery and/or disability.

It’s important to address the big picture of a person’s recovery plan—and that is what the Torrance Memorial rehabilitation therapists do best.

Photos by Michael Neveux