Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital and Geriatric Center opened their doors in 1948 as a 51 bed unit providing domiciliary care. It evolved into the provision of skilled care in 1963 and became licensed as a General Hospital in 1972.

Although many different acute services were offered with the opening of the hospital, the most significant addition was that of the acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital in 1974. The inpatient rehabilitation hospital continues to thrive and has successfully admitted and treated thousands of members of our community.

The ultimate goal of the members of the Peterson professional team is to provide a wide array of services that are designed to send people back home. Providing acute inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient therapy, skilled nursing and long term living, Peterson has long been recognized as the premier provider of post acute services in the Ohio Valley.

Peterson is the only rehabilitation hospital in the State of West Virginia that has partnered with the National Stroke Association. Peterson’s alignment with the organization has provided them with the state of the art resources to ensure delivery of the best practices in stroke rehabilitation as they routinely access the most updated research and therapy modalities.

Peterson is known for superior outcomes, returning more patients back to their homes in the community and employs the largest complement of physical, occupational, and speech therapists in the Ohio Valley. Betsy Meyers OTR/L, CLT, specializes in lymphedema therapy which is offered in both inpatient and outpatient programs. With 28 years of highly specialized experience, Ted Laska, PT, DPT, OCS, CIDN is the Program Manager for outpatient therapy and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Physical Therapy at Wheeling Jesuit University where he specializes in lower back/neck pain and thoracic pain and is a certified orthopedic specialist and certified in dry needling. Sara Alig, MSCCC/SLP, speech language pathologist, provides inpatient and outpatient professional speech therapy. She is certified in vital stim and deep pharyngeal neuromuscular stim for swallowing. Free outpatient transportation is provided within a 30-mile radius.

Peterson has 150 dually certified skilled/long term living beds as well as a 22 acute inpatient rehab hospital. Peterson offers primary care nursing that serves to increase the amount of licensed nursing hours provided to each resident resulting in the provision of exemplary nursing care. Peterson has a variety of activities for their long term living and skilled residents with a goal to provide a home like environment that includes church services, fine dining, picnics, senior specific functions, and staff that often become a part of their extended family. Some residents choose to live out the remainder of their lives after experiencing a skilled nursing stay.

Peterson is unique in that they proudly have medical practitioners providing coverage 7 days per week in order to provide excellent medical coverage to their high volume of acutely ill patients and to provide timely medical intervention that serves to avoid the stress that re-hospitalization places on their patients.

Dr. William Mercer serves as the Medical Director for the facility. He is Board Certified in Gerontology and is a Certified Medical Director by the American Medical Directors Association. He provides oversight to the various practitioners which include rehab physicians, nurse practitioners, family practice physicians and several credentialed specialists.

Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital has recently renovated many areas with the intent to offer an updated atmosphere that promotes healing, while meeting the increased technological service needs of their customers. In order to be more flexible in the provision of individualized services, Peterson has added:

1) The Cozy Corner Cafe, as Carmen Zimmerman, Director of Marketing and Business Development explained, gives the residents a variety of choices for meals. “If there is something the patient doesn’t like on the menu they can request something from the Cozy Cafe which is free of charge. For a small fee, employees and families are able to enjoy the Cafe too,” she said.

2) The Snozelen Room is a multi-sensory environment designed to redirect, calm and alleviate anxiety through a varied array of sensory stimulating activities. A portable sensory stimulation cart services residents that are more comfortable in their rooms.

3) The Rose Garden and The Sherry Holloway Garden are two beautiful gardens located on the grounds of the campus. Both gardens are maintained by the volunteer services of the Ohio County Master Gardeners. The men and women that provide the gardening services do so in a selfless manner that serves to provide therapeutically designed planters and gardens for resident use as well as a relaxing environment for all during the growing season.

4) A wireless service (WiFi) is offered throughout the building free to all residents and patients. Any new patient or resident is welcome to bring personal wireless devices such as Kindles, Tablets and/or Laptops to use during their stay.

Peterson is quite active in the local community as well. Every year in October the facility hosts Geri Camp, which is held at Olgebay’s Camp Russell and invites residents from all other local nursing homes. Additionally, Peterson participates in the Alzheimer’s Walk, Light the Night, Relay for Life, MDA lock up and the Wheeling Christmas parade. The facility also partners in education with Woodsdale and Wheeling Country Day School and provides free health screening clinics at local high rises and senior centers.

Rehabilitation is never something easy to go through, but Peterson accommodates its patients in a way assures they are comfortable and well cared for throughout their stay. Peterson was awarded the Bronze Award of Commitment to Quality by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) National Quality Program and has been voted the Best Rehabilitation Facility in The Times Leader’s “Best of the Ohio Valley” for nine consecutive years.

Peterson has a 24 hour/7day a week admissions on-call program. If you are in need of placement for your loved one or would like a tour, please call (304)234-0538 or visit them on the web at www.petersonrehabilitationhospital.com so they may assist you with meeting your individual rehabilitation needs.