About
Residents and their families routinely praise the Nurse Practitioners and all the staff at Woodbine, not just for what they do, but also for how they do it. Many choose Woodbine because of positive word-of-mouth in the community. For caregivers, there can be no greater compliment.
—Donna Shaw
Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center is Alexandria’s leading skilled nursing facility. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave it a five-star rating for excellence in subacute rehabilitative and long-term care. Nurse practitioners (NP’s) are the heartbeat of Woodbine and the backbone of its specialty programs that include chronic kidney disease, pulmonary rehabilitation, infectious disease, physiatry, cardiac rehab, palliative care and psychiatry.
Lead by Joy Heatwole, NP, the team works under the supervision of a board-certified physician to diagnose, develop treatment plans and manage care. Taking time to listen, they educate and counsel patients and family members. Each plays an essential role in patient success by fine tuning treatments and reconciling medications.
June Lee, NP, helps patients understand and manage their kidney disease by monitoring their physical well-being, labs, medications and nutrition to help slow and stabilize the condition.
The Physiatry Specialty Program helps patients excel at physical, occupational and speech therapy. Rubeena Vincent, NP, ensures that pain, musculoskeletal or neurologic issues are not barriers to a patient’s rehab success. Interventions include trigger point injections and managed pain medication.
Bianca Ho, NP, works diligently on the treatment and prevention of infections. Many patients go to Woodbine specifically for IV antibiotics for a known infection. Close monitoring is important for recovery. Covid shed a bright light on this problem.
For over 30 years, Woodbine has been home to the area’s largest and most progressive respiratory care center. NP’s help patients with ventilators or tracheostomies achieve the highest level of independence. Many are admitted directly from an ICU.