EARLY TRANSFER TO A REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOR INFANTS WITH CHRONIC BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA

Shortly after being weaned off the respirator, 43 infants with severe chronic bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) were transferred from an inte nsive-care nursery at a teaching hospital to an affiliated children's rehabilitation hospital in a program that included special staff instr uction. Morbidity, measured by rate of transfer back to the acute-care hospital, was lower than in a comparison group of 15 infants treated for severe BPD during the previous two years. Average length of stay w as significantly shortened and an average of $60,000 per patient was s aved. Using a rehabilitation hospital as a step-down unit shifts the e mphasis from acute needs to chronic and developmental needs and from i ntensive monitoring and nursing care to care given at home by parents with nursing assistance.