Why Choose Shepherd Center?
It's important to be confident about the quality of care you or a loved one will receive when entering a rehabilitation or treatment program. There are certain things to look for and questions to ask when narrowing down your list of options.
Nationally Ranked
Shepherd Center is named one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation by U.S. News. We're the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit and acute medical components on-site, allowing us to begin the rehabilitation process sooner than other rehabilitation hospitals.
Specialty Care
There are several reasons why you should consider Shepherd Center when selecting a place for your rehabilitation and treatment. First and foremost, Shepherd Center specializes in the treatment of spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular disorders. We're not a general rehabilitation hospital like the majority of facilities you will encounter. That means we have more experience dealing with situations like yours.
Staff Expertise
In fact, our specialization has enabled our staff to develop higher levels of expertise and achieve better results for our patients. When it comes to functional improvements, our patients are more independent and have better outcomes than the national average. In fact, our patient outcomes, such as return-to-home rates and return-to-work rates, are among the best in the United States.
Continuum of Care
More than half of our patients travel from outside of the state to receive our complete continuum of care. They are drawn to our acute care, inpatient programs, outpatient services, and our residential and lifelong support programs. Patients at Shepherd Center also enjoy our "value-added" programs.
These sought-after programs include recreation therapy, patient outings, chaplaincy, extensive family training, family housing, assistive technology, back-to-school programs, and peer support. We even offer specialized rehabilitation programs tailored to adolescents, patients on ventilators, low-level brain injuries, and neuromuscular diseases, as well as advanced rehabilitation programs for patients who are several months or years post-injury or illness.
Leaders in Research
Shepherd Center is also a world-renowned center for neurological and neuromuscular research. Clinical studies are conducted in collaboration with leading experts at other hospitals, research centers, medical schools, and universities around the world. Shepherd Center's research activities are primarily focused on spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and neuromuscular disorders. The center works to develop, refine and evaluate new treatments, including drugs, surgical techniques, diagnostic tools, and various therapy interventions.
Accreditation
Finally, we want you to know that Shepherd Center is accredited by the Joint Commission and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Shepherd Center is also one of an elite group to be designated as both a Spinal Cord Injury Model System and a Traumatic Brain Injury Model System by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
Specialized Care Worth Traveling For
Each year, thousands of people travel from across the country and around the globe to Shepherd Center for rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury, brain injury, or stroke. While the decision to travel for care is often difficult, our Shepherd Center alumni agree it’s worth the trip.
Additional Resources
- How to Choose a Brain or Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Facility – Shepherd Center Radio podcast
- Questions to Consider when Selecting a Rehabilitation Facility for Brain Injury – Shepherd Center PDF guide
- Questions to Consider when Selecting a Rehabilitation Facility for Spinal Cord Injury – Shepherd Center PDF guide