UR Medicine has opened a new state-of-the-art unit that provides comprehensive rehabilitation and support services for patients recovering from strokes, traumatic brain injuries and other types of acute acquired brain injuries.
The acute brain injury neurorehabilitation unit meets a regional need for these services and is integrated into the hospital’s leading trauma, surgical and intensive care programs, providing a continuum of care designed to help patients recover function and independence.
“The unit is physically designed to appropriately manage patients with cognitive and behavioral deficits and accounts for the clinical, physical, cognitive, communication, and nutritional conditions necessary to create an optimal environment for the brain to heal,” said physician Heather Ma, a brain injury rehabilitation medicine specialist and assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Ma is division chief of UR Medicine’s Brain Injury Rehabilitation Medicine service line and is interim medical director and division chief of acute inpatient rehabilitation medicine. “The staff are uniquely qualified to guide recovery, help patients improve or maintain function, and improve overall health and quality of life after an acute brain injury.”
The $7 million, 11-bed acute brain injury neurorehabilitation unit, located in 6-1200 at Strong Memorial Hospital, is led by board-certified and fellowship-trained physicians with expertise in brain injury rehabilitation medicine, the multidisciplinary care team is comprised of rehabilitation nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, recreational therapists, care managers, dietitians, and psychologists. The focus is restoring independence by improving problems with cognition, balance, strength, motor control, vision, swallowing, and other deficits that adversely affect patients’ daily lives.
As Western New York’s largest and the Rochester region’s only Level 1 trauma facility, Strong Memorial Hospital is a destination for patients from across Upstate New York that require advanced levels of trauma care.