It’s easy to see why the Joint Center draws patients from across northern Illinois and surrounding states:

• Skilled orthopedic surgeons who use the latest research-based joint replacement procedures
• A team approach built around patient needs
• Excellent patient outcomes with over 90 percent of patients discharged to home within 2-3 days of surgery
• State-of-the-art facilities dedicated to joint replacement and designed with patient comfort in mind

Kishwaukee Hospital reserves a special area for our joint replacement patients. Accommodations include private rooms and a group activity space for meals and physical therapy.

Our goal is to return you to an active lifestyle as quickly as possible. Most patients will be able to walk the first day after surgery and move toward normal activity in 6-12 weeks.

Why Have Joint Replacement Surgery?

Each year, more than 700,000 people decide to have joint replacement surgery (most commonly hip replacement or knee replacement surgery). This surgery:

• Relieves knee pain and hip joint pain from conditions like hip bursitis and degenerative joint disease
• Restores independence
• Returns patients to work and the daily activities they love

A Team Approach to Joint Replacement

The Northwestern Medicine Joint Center at Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb is one of the region’s most successful joint replacement programs because it relies on evidence-based practices.

Studies show that complications are reduced and outcomes maximized when a joint replacement patient understands the procedure, starts physical therapy the same day as surgery, receives support from friends and family, and continues recuperating at home and with outpatient physical therapy.

The Northwestern Medicine Joint Replacement Program at Kishwaukee Hospital is different from others in northern Illinois for the following reasons:

• Research-based practices: Orthopaedic surgeons use the latest evidence-based joint replacement procedures.
• Advanced training: The clinical team of nurses and physical therapists has advanced training in the care and rehabilitation of joint surgery patients.
• Patient education: You attend a preoperative educational program 2 to 3 weeks prior to surgery to ensure they understand the procedure and know what to expect:
  • Includes a tour of the Joint Center Unit and Group Activity Room inside Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb
  • Provides an overview and demonstration of preoperative exercises
  • Allows you to speak with Joint Center team members and ask questions
• Explains the role of the personal coach (We strongly recommend coaches attend the preoperative class for this reason)
• Group emphasis: Pre- and postoperative education and inpatient therapy takes place in a group setting to foster support and encouragement among patients:
  • You and your coach participate in postoperative group physical therapy at the Joint Center
  • You eat meals with your coaches and with other patients who had the same procedure (for example, knee replacement surgery patients rehab and eat meals together)
  • You and your coach are invited to attend a reunion luncheon with other patients/coaches from their group in order to share your experience with staff and physicians
• Ongoing support: Family members are trained to be personal coaches to help patients during the rehabilitation process and assist them at home.
• Better outcomes: Whenever possible, Joint Center patients are discharged within three days after surgery to their homes rather than to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.