The Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center (LBVAMC) is a 200-bed facility. Its Comprehensive Rehabilitation Service (CRS) consists of a 12-bed rehab unit, Consultation Clinic, Electrodiagnostic Clinic, PACT, six therapy sections - Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Kinesiotherapy, Vocational Rehabilitation Therapy, Recreational Therapy and Audiology and Speech Pathology. The faculty consists of five board-certified physiatrists who are full time. All staff and consultants to the service have faculty appointments at UCI. There are 51.5 therapists among the six therapy sections.

The sole criterion for admission to the rehab bed unit is that the patient must have functional rehabilitation potential. The PM&RS ward has 12 acute beds for patients who require intensive rehabilitation but who no longer represent acute medical/surgical problems. All of these patients have the usual satellite complications, giving the resident an opportunity to practice his/her medical skills.

PM&RS staff physicians supply medical support for the Prosthetics and Orthotics Service and maintain a close liaison with Social Work and Psychology.

The PM&RS Consultation Clinic staff is responsible for all inpatient, outpatient, and Nursing Home Care Unit consultations and supervises all patients receiving treatment in the therapy sections. The Clinic handles approximately 8,500 patient-visits, of which nearly 4,900 are new consults.

The PM&RS Electrodiagnostic Clinic performs electromyography, conduction studies and somatosensory evoked potentials. It does approximately 1,200 consultations annually.

A 120-bed, internationally known Spinal Cord Injury Service (SCIS) is also located at LBVAMC. Residents rotate on the acute/rehab SCI ward during the PG2 year and do consultations on all inpatient and outpatient SCIS cases referred to PM&RS during the PG3 year.

In addition to informal teaching in the clinics and at the bedside, there are formal lectures for residents and staff, weekly grand rounds, and a monthly journal club. house staff are also encouraged to attend appropriate seminars and teaching conferences given by other services at LBVAMC.

For more information, please visit the LBVAMC website.