Posted on October 22, 2019
OrthoSEAT mobile unit brings custom seating services to patients
Technology that enhances the lives of patients is a direct extension of Mary Free Bed’s mission to restore hope and freedom. OrthoSEAT is a specialized service for people who need wheelchairs to support their health and to empower them to do what they want to, when they want to do it.
OrthoSEAT’s mobile unit brings those customized services directly to patients who can’t travel to Mary Free Bed’s Grand Rapids campus or who need on-site assistance at home, work or in school.
“Our mobile unit serves as an extension of our strategic objective to serve more people,” said Matthew Scholtens, manager of Custom Seating and Assistive Technology. “We understand that patients with mobility and positioning limitations often have difficulty traveling longer distances to receive excellent care. The mobile unit provides untethered access to patients closer to home.”
Three days a week, the unit travels to locations within a 90-minute radius of downtown Grand Rapids. An experienced therapist and technician provide therapeutic mobility evaluations, seating fabrication and construction, final fittings, modifications and education.
More than 1,000 patients with a variety of diagnoses utilized the OrthoSEAT mobile unit within the past six months alone. About 20 percent live outside the Grand Rapids area.
“About 450 are pediatric patients,” Matthew said. “But they range in age from one to 94.”
Matching mobility technologies to patients with a broad spectrum of needs is essential for comfort and function, and to support the highest level of independence possible.
