A spinal cord injury (SCI) patient’s quality of care and optimization of their treatment plan are among the top priorities upon entering any rehabilitation program. SCI patients and their families want to be certain that their rehabilitation center of choice is a top-class facility with industry leading experts and resources. In the southeastern states, one spinal cord injury treatment center continues to stand out as a leader among research and rehabilitation facilities.
In a few recent blogs, we’ve discussed a few accidents that affected young people living in Florida and resulted in spinal cord injuries. In one example, a high school student sustained a spinal cord injury during a school wrestling match. In another recent case, a high school senior was paralyzed after diving into a shallow pond on a local farm. In both examples, the patients were transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia for physical rehabilitation after a period of acute care in local hospitals.
The Shepherd Center is world-renowned treatment center for spinal cord injuries. It works with patients from all over the world, but is particularly accessible to patients from the southeastern US. The Shepherd Center is a 152-bed facility. Last year, it had 965 admissions to its spine and brain injury inpatient programs and 571 to its day patient programs – including several patients from the state of Florida. In addition, the facility treats over 6,600 patients annually on an outpatient basis.
The Shepherd Center stands out as a leading research and rehabilitation facility in the southeastern US. It has been recognized by US News surveys for its quality of care in treating people with spinal cord injuries and other neuromuscular illnesses.
Accreditation and Commitment to Patient Care
The Shepherd Center is the largest of 14 different Model Systems of Care for spinal cord injuries located throughout the US. The Shepherd Center has the largest number of new admissions and outpatient visits of all NIDRR funded facilities. During the last 10 years, Shepherd Center contributed the largest volume of new admission data to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC). A peer-reviewed survey among neurology professionals also rated the Shepherd Center #10 in the country with specific regard to spinal cord injury patient treatment programs and innovations in patient care.
The founders of the Shepherd Center firmly believe the best healing takes place when the highest ethical standards are followed. Patients are treated with the highest esteem and hospital professionals further the greater purpose of research through mutual respect, justice, and equality among all team members. An appropriate level of care results in the most positive medical outcomes within the limits of available resources and the most appropriate care must be provided by a professional team working with each patient and family. The professionals at the Shepherd Center understand that rehabilitation is a lifelong process that begins right after the injury and that sharing research guarantees growth and improvement and benefits everyone.
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