6/2/2009

Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary

WHO:      Representatives from Southern Indiana Rehab   Hospital, Frazier Rehab Institute, Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services, Clark Memorial Hospital, Floyd and Clark County Commissioners.

WHAT:     Celebration of providing 15 years of rehabilitation   service to southern Indiana residents.

WHEN:     Tuesday, June 9, 2009 from 4-7 p.m.

WHERE:   Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital
              3104 Blackiston Blvd.
              New Albany, IN  41750

Photo and interview opportunities will be available.

New Albany, IN…When a child is injured in a serious accident, when a woman suffers a debilitating stroke or when a man undergoes hip replacement surgery, their journeys through the healing process can be extremely challenging. But, in southern Indiana, they and their families have a strong, caring ally to help them along their way: Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital.

The 60-bed, not-for-profit hospital provides comprehensive services for adults and children with an injury, illness or disability. It is southern Indiana’s only freestanding inpatient/outpatient physical rehab facility. The hospital combines traditional physical, occupational and speech therapies and psychology services with rehab nursing and advanced technologies to improve patients’ functional abilities and help them reach their maximum potential. Among its special features is Independence Square, a setting that recreates such everyday locations as a grocery, bank and automobile.  This setting provides patients an opportunity to relearn daily life skills such as; shopping, banking and getting in and out of a car.

SIRH’s concept began in 1993 when the demand for quality rehab services in the area became greater.  What started out as an adult rehab hospital for brain and spinal cord injuries and other long-term debilitating illnesses rapidly expanded into a full-continuum pediatric and adult rehab hospital offering inpatient and outpatient services including physical, occupational, speech therapies, psychology services, rehab nursing and much more.  The community’s needs were demanding more than a long-term acute care hospital.  So, in March 2002, SIRH changed its certification to begin treating short-term acute rehab illnesses and injuries, such as total-joint replacements. As President and CEO Randy Napier explained, “Since the hospital’s opening, it had been classified as an acute long-term rehab hospital, focusing on patients with illnesses that required extended periods of time for their rehab process. As a result of the area’s changing needs, as well as requests from patients and their physicians for the services we offer, we made the decision to move to short-term acute rehab. The change enables us to offer intensive therapies to more patients in the most appropriate setting, closer to home.”  

The hospital is licensed by the State of Indiana and is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). It also has received top accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for its Comprehensive Integrated Inpatient, Brain Injury and Case Management programs.

SIRH is jointly owned and operated in a partnership with three of the area’s most respected health care leaders: Frazier Rehab Institute, Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services and Clark Memorial Hospital.

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