Reason for Admission: Ventilator weaning, respiratory management, rehab, and wound care
Hospital: PAM Health Specialty Hospital of Victoria Southeast; PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Victoria
Wayland Thomas remembers recovering from an illness at home but can’t recall what happened to cause his condition to emergently decline. He just remembers waking up disoriented in the hospital with a tracheostomy and facing a host of complications. Once stable enough – but still completely dependent for all mobility and functional tasks, disoriented, and dependent on mechanical ventilation – Mr. Thomas came to PAM Health Specialty Hospital of Victoria Southeast for continued medical management and to work toward ventilator weaning. He was also unable to eat by mouth upon arrival at PAM Health.
Through the coordinated efforts of our interdisciplinary team at our long-term acute care hospital—including Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy—Mr. Thomas achieved meaningful progress across all areas of recovery. In Physical Therapy, he began slowly improving his strength, endurance, and weight-bearing tolerance to eventually work toward standing and walking again. Occupational Therapy helped him improve with activities of daily living (ADLs) and promote reintegration of upper extremity function. Speech Therapy addressed swallowing deficits through targeted strategies and interventions, ultimately supporting progression back to a regular diet. With the support of the interdisciplinary efforts and coordinated care of Nursing and Respiratory Therapy, Mr. Thomas was determined to wean from the ventilator and have his trach removed. He also required the support of our expert wound care team to resolve a wound around his trach, and through their collaboration with our respiratory and nursing team, the wound completely healed by the time he transitioned to rehab. As his mental clarity and communication abilities returned, he would mouth words and make vocalizations around his trach, and one day several weeks into his stay in April 2026, he stated clearly, “This is Wayland Thomas. I want this out of my neck!” referring to his trach. Talk about determination! Two days later, he was successfully liberated from mechanical ventilation during his stay and transitioned to our sister rehabilitation hospital breathing independently on room air.
“If I wouldn’t have come here, I would probably still be lying in bed unable to walk.”
-Wayland Thomas
When Mr. Thomas came to PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Victoria, he continued to build on his incredible progress, especially when it came to rebuilding his strength, mobility, and independence with therapy. He greatly appreciated the foundation that his early mobility training in the LTACH provided as he focused on longer, more intensive therapy sessions in rehab. First, he tackled standing, then set his sights on walking again, acknowledging that “standing is just half the battle of being able to walk.” Mr. Thomas credits our team’s “wealth of knowledge” for him walking again. “If I wouldn’t have come here, I would probably still be lying in bed unable to walk,” he said.
Mr. Thomas’ ordeal was harrowing and uncertain at times, but he attributes his tremendous recovery to the exceptional-+ experience he had at our PAM Health LTACH and rehab. “Everyone was nice and made sure I had everything I needed. I would recommend to everybody!” he said. Mr. Thomas’ story reflects the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, expertise, and compassionate patient-centered care, and we are so proud of all he has achieved with us.
Watch Mr. Thomas take some of his hard-earned first steps:
