Wagga Wagga Rehabilitation Services provides rehabilitation across the Murrumbidgee Local Health District and aims to support you to maintain independence during and after injury or illness.
For more information please call our coordinator on 0429 309 087.
Rehabilitation services include:
- Inpatient rehabilitation unit at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital (WWBH)
- Acute Rehabilitation Team – provides rehabilitation to the acute wards in WWBH
- Wagga Wagga Ambulatory Rehabilitation Service – provides out-patient rehabilitation to people in Wagga Wagga
- Outreach inpatient and outpatient services
- Rehabilitation Medicine Consultancy Service
- Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics
Examples of conditions referred to the service could include:
- Neurological conditions such as Stoke, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neuron Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Post-Polio Syndrome, Brain Injury adults with Cerebral Palsy
- Amputation
- Loss of strength following a prolong hospitalisation or illness.
- Post-operative orthopaedic procedures for hip fractures or elective hip/knee replacements or
- Spinal cord injuries and Spina Bifida
Wagga Wagga Ambulatory Rehabilitation Service (ARS)
We work with you to set rehabilitation goals that support your independence and are important to you.
Goals might include cooking, gardening, going out for coffee, cleaning your teeth, shopping and collecting the mail.
We work with you in the gym at WWBH or at home.
The ARS Team includes the following roles:
- Rehabilitation physicians
- Coordinator
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech Pathologist
- Social Worker
- Allied Health Assistants
Falls prevention
The Wagga ARS service facilitates the “Stepping On” Program in Wagga.
Referrals
Referrals can be from a therapist, metropolitan hospitals, GP, Specialist or a self-referral to the ambulatory services.
Outreach Rehabilitation Services
“Committed to getting people closer to their families and local communities”
Inpatient Service
Rehabilitation for inpatients is a shared care model in Tumut, Temora and Narrandera.
A rehabilitation specialist, physiotherapist and occupational therapist, from Wagga Wagga, work with the nursing teams and general practitioners at these hospitals to provide rehabilitation.
An Allied Health Assistant, located in each hospital, provides supervision of therapies 5 days a week and therapists visit each hospital once a week. Tele-health review is available 5 days a week with the therapists and specialists as necessary.
This service enables people to be receive rehabilitation therapy closer to family and friends in their own community. We aim to improve the patient’s journey through rehabilitation.
Ambulatory Service - Tumut, Temora, Narrandera
Our teams works with you to set rehabilitation goals that support your independence in daily life and are important to you. We can meet you in the gym at their hospital.
Outpatient Referrals
Referral can be from a therapist, metropolitan hospitals, GP, Specialist or a self-referral. All enquiries and referrals are directed to the coordinator.
Rehabilitation Medicine Specialist Clinics
Drs Louis Baggio and Rachael McQueen provide weekly outpatient clinics for people in the MLHD. Expertise can be provided to people with the following conditions.
- Neurological conditions: Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Guillain Barre Syndrome, Parkinson’s Syndromes, Muscular Dystrophies, peripheral neuropathies, Post-Polio Syndrome and adults with Spina Bifida and Cerebral Palsy.
- Spinal cord injury (traumatic/atraumatic): comprehensive assessment and management. Traumatic/atraumatic brain injury - mild or severe. The doctors also provide a consultancy service to and work with the South West Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service in Albury.
- Amputations and prosthetic management.
- Orthotic management: (upper and lower limbs), such as prescription of ankle foot orthoses.
- Footwear management: off the shelf or custom-made recommendations for conditions such as Charcot’s Arthropathy and lower limb pressure ulcer management.
- Spasticity management: including botulinum toxin injections post stroke, cerebral palsy or neurological conditions or the need for intrathecal pumps.
- Neurogenic bladder and bowel dysfunction
Referrals
A general practitioner referral is required.
Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics
The Albury Prosthetic & Orthotic Service (APOS) provide an outreach service to the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. Prosthetic clinics are held fortnightly on Monday and attended by prosthetists and a rehabilitation physician. The orthotic clinics are fortnightly on Thursday and attended by an orthotist and a rehabilitation physician. Assessments, fittings and modifications are undertaken at the clinics whilst the prostheses and orthoses and are manufactured in Albury. Custom-made footwear can be prescribed at the Wagga Wagga clinics but fittings need to be undertaken in Albury.
Referrals
A general practitioner referral is required.
NDIS Participants
The Albury Prosthetic & Orthotic Service (APOS) is a registered provider under the NDIS for all Prosthetic, orthotic and all other custom “Assistive Technology”.
NDIS Participants can access the APOS service in either Lavington or Wagga Wagga.
Referrals
While NDIS Participants may self-refer in many cases the best outcome is achieved when our service works in collaboration with other health professionals. We welcome referrals from other health services. E.g. Medical specialists, physiotherapist etc.