314 Youngsville Highway Lafayette, LA 70508 (337) 330-2051 Acadiana Rehab
Visiting Hours:
Monday - Friday: 4PM-8PM
Saturday: 12PM-8PM
Sunday: 8AM-8PM
Inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation in Lafayette, LA
Physician-led inpatient rehabilitation in Lafayette, built around what you need to get home safely.
Rebuilding Strength After a Heart Event
A heart attack, heart surgery, or an extended cardiac hospital stay can leave a person weaker than they expect. Even a relatively short period of limited activity can make everyday tasks harder, from getting to the bathroom safely at night to getting dressed, standing for longer periods, or managing the steps into the house. Those small movements often play a major role in determining whether someone is ready to return home safely.
Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital is a 16-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Lafayette. For patients recovering after a cardiac event, our team focuses on rebuilding strength, mobility, endurance, and the everyday skills needed at home. Care is overseen by a physician, with nursing support available around the clock throughout the rehabilitation stay.
What Is Inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation?
Inpatient cardiac rehabilitation is a hospital level of care for people who are medically stable enough to participate in daily therapy but are not yet ready to return home safely. Patients stay at the rehabilitation hospital, work with a therapy team each day, and remain under medical supervision throughout their stay.
It is different from the outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program a cardiologist may recommend later in recovery. Outpatient cardiac rehab typically involves scheduled exercise, education, and monitoring sessions that patients attend after they are living at home. Inpatient rehabilitation comes earlier, when someone still needs more intensive therapy, nursing support, and help with everyday activities before returning home.
Both can be part of cardiac recovery, but they serve different needs at different stages. Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital provides the inpatient side. You can read more about how the program works on our inpatient rehabilitation page, or see everything we offer on our services page.
Why the Inpatient Setting Matters After a Heart Event
Recovery after a cardiac event often happens through small but important milestones: standing up from a chair without help, walking farther down the hallway, or sitting up long enough to finish a meal. Those steps are easier to work toward with medical support close by. A physician sees each patient daily, and nursing staff are available around the clock, allowing the care team to adjust therapy as strength, endurance, and confidence improve.
That level of support is especially important early in recovery, when patients may still feel tired, unsteady, or uncertain about what they can safely do on their own. With the medical team on site, questions and concerns can be addressed as they come up instead of waiting for the next outpatient appointment. Best of all, every patient room at Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital is private, with high ceilings and natural light. A quieter, more comfortable room can make it easier to rest and recover between therapy sessions.
Who Inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Is For
Cardiac care is one of the conditions we treat at Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital. Inpatient rehabilitation tends to make sense in situations like these.
After A Heart Attack
A cardiac event and the hospital stay that follows can leave a person weaker than they were going in. Therapy starts with what the patient can do today, then adds a little distance, a little time on their feet, and a few more of the tasks a normal morning requires.
After Heart Surgery
An incision healing on schedule doesn't mean a patient is ready for a flight of stairs. Standing, walking, dressing, and climbing all come back separately, and each one comes back through daily practice with a therapist.
After A Long Cardiac Hospitalization
Time in a hospital bed costs muscle and stamina quickly, whatever brought the patient in. When that loss is the main obstacle to going home, a rehabilitation stay is built to address it directly.
When Home Is Not Yet Safe
Sometimes the honest answer after discharge is that the stairs, the bathroom, or a day alone are still out of reach. Inpatient rehabilitation exists for that gap, and the goal is to close as much of it as the patient's diagnosis and progress allow.
What Therapy Looks Like
Care here is physician-led and delivered by a team that works from one shared plan, so the person helping a patient get steady on their feet and the person helping them manage a morning routine already know what the other is doing.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy works on standing up without help, walking a little further each day, managing stairs, and getting to the end of an ordinary afternoon without stopping to rest halfway through it.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy covers the activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, preparing a meal, moving safely around a kitchen. Therapists also work on pacing, so a patient learns to spread their energy across a whole day instead of spending it before noon.
Speech Therapy
Some patients come to us with swallowing or communication difficulties following their hospital stay. When that happens, speech therapy is part of the plan, and it is coordinated with the rest of the team rather than handled separately.
Nursing and Physician Care
A physician visits every day and nursing staff are present around the clock. That continuity is what lets a patient take on more in therapy while someone with clinical training keeps track of how they are handling it.
Accredited by The Joint Commission
Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital is the only free-standing rehabilitation hospital in Lafayette accredited by The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission reviews how a hospital actually operates and holds it to a published standard.
The hospital is physician-led, with two medical directors in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. One of them, Dr. Stuart Begnaud, is a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has practiced in Lafayette for more than twenty years.
How Admission Works
1. A Referral From the Hospital Treating You
Most patients come to us directly from an acute care hospital, arranged by the case manager handling the discharge. If you or a family member wants Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital considered, say so to that case manager, and call us as well. Families can ask for us by name, and it helps to ask early rather than on the day of discharge.
2. A Pre-Admission Assessment
Before admission, our team reviews the patient's diagnosis, current condition, and what they are able to do right now, to determine whether an inpatient rehabilitation stay is appropriate. This is a clinical judgment about the level of care that fits, and it is made with the referring providers rather than around them.
3. Insurance Review and Authorization
Inpatient rehabilitation requires authorization from the patient's insurer, and this step is where families most often feel stuck. Coverage depends on the plan and on the clinical documentation. If an initial request comes back denied, our team keeps working with the insurer rather than treating the first answer as the last one.
4. Admission and the First Plan
Once a patient is admitted, the team builds a plan around their specific goals and starts therapy. After the first team conference, the team can estimate how long the stay is likely to be useful, and the case manager keeps the patient and family informed about the expected discharge date and what follow-up care will be needed afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is rehabilitation delivered in a hospital setting for patients recovering after a cardiac event or procedure. The patient stays at the hospital, receives daily therapy aimed at walking, dressing, and the other everyday tasks that come before going home, and remains under physician and nursing care throughout the stay.
Outpatient cardiac rehab is a scheduled program a patient travels to, typically some weeks after leaving the hospital. Inpatient rehabilitation happens earlier, while the patient still needs support to get through a day safely, and it takes place where nursing and physician care are available at all hours. They address different stages of a recovery.
Patients who are medically stable enough to take part in daily therapy, but who still need hospital-level nursing and physician oversight and cannot yet manage safely at home. Whether a particular patient qualifies is decided through a pre-admission assessment with the referring providers, not from a checklist.
Stays are short term and vary from patient to patient. Progress against the goals the rehabilitation team sets is what determines the length. After the first team conference, the team gives an estimate, and your case manager notifies you of the expected discharge date and helps arrange any therapy needed after you leave.
Coverage depends on the patient's plan and requires authorization, which our team handles as part of the admission process. Denials on a first submission aren't unusual in this level of care. When that happens, we continue working with the insurer rather than stopping at the first response.
Ask the case manager at the hospital where they are currently admitted. Case managers coordinate discharge and can send a referral to us directly. You can also call Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital at (337) 330-2051 and speak with our team about whether an inpatient rehabilitation stay is the right fit.
Yes, and family involvement is part of how discharge planning works. Visiting hours are Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 8:00 pm, Saturday from noon to 8:00 pm, and Sunday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Families are also included in training on the tasks a patient will need help with at home.
Before a patient leaves, the team works with the family on home safety and on any care that continues afterward. Your case manager arranges follow-up therapy where it is needed. Our patient resources page has more for families preparing for a loved one to come home.
Where We Are
Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital is located at 314 Youngsville Hwy, Lafayette, LA 70508. The hospital serves Lafayette and communities across Acadiana, and you can see the full list on our areas served page.
Staying close to home matters during a rehabilitation stay. Families can visit on a weeknight after work, sit in on a therapy session, and take part in the training that makes discharge go smoothly.
Inpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Lafayette, LA
Talk to Our Team About an Inpatient Stay
If someone you love is recovering in the hospital after a heart attack or heart surgery and you are trying to understand the next step, call Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital at (337) 330-2051. Our team can explain whether inpatient rehabilitation may be appropriate and what the admission process looks like. Ask the hospital’s case manager to send a referral to Acadiana Rehabilitation Hospital. From there, our admissions team can review the information and help guide you through the next steps.
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