Stroke Specialty Programs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2007
Contact: Karen E. Warmkessel kwarmkessel@umm.edu
Ellen Beth Levitt eblevitt@umm.edu 410-328-8919

KERNAN HOSPITAL IN WOODLAWN AWARDED HIGHEST ACCREDITATION FOR ITS STROKE REHABILITATION PROGRAM

First hospital in Maryland to have received” Stroke Specialty Program” certification from CARF

Kernan Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Hospital in Woodlawn has received the highest level of accreditation for its stroke rehabilitation program from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). It is the first hospital in Maryland to have been awarded the new, three-year designation for “Stroke Specialty Programs.”

To receive this accreditation, a hospital or rehabilitation facility must have comprehensive programs and services for all phases of stroke rehabilitation, with an emphasis on treatment, patient education and stroke prevention. The facility must also undergo a vigorous peer-review process, including an onsite visit by a team of surveyors.

Kernan Hospital, which is part of the eight-hospital University of Maryland Medical System, is the largest hospital specializing in orthopaedics and rehabilitation in Maryland. The hospital started its stroke rehabilitation program in 1987 and has an inpatient unit devoted exclusively to treating stroke patients.

“We have 20 years of demonstrated excellence in helping our patients recover from stroke. Our comprehensive, multidisciplinary team approach to treatment really sets us apart from other stroke rehabilitation programs,” says Daria C. Malan, R.N., program director for the neurological neurological rehabilitation program at Kernan.

Malan notes that team members include a neurologist and specialty nurses; physical, occupational and respiratory therapists; speech and language pathologists; dietitians; and case managers. “The goal of our stroke rehabilitation program is to restore maximum functional independence to our patients, helping them to walk, communicate and perform activities of daily living. Our interdisciplinary team focuses on the whole person not just on their stroke-related impairment,” she says.

Of the new certification, Glenn J. Kehs, M.D., director of stroke rehabilitation at Kernan Hospital and an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, says, “We are very pleased to have achieved this distinction. This three-year accreditation lets the public know that Kernan Hospital has a stellar stroke rehabilitation program which produces excellent outcomes for patients.”

CARF is an independent, not-for-profit accrediting body that establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services. It began offering the new designation for stroke specialty programs, CARF-SSP, in January 2006. The new standards were developed with input from an 18-member international advisory committee composed of stroke survivors and health care professionals.

In addition to the new certification, Kernan’s stroke unit has a general accreditation from CARF as well as from The Joint Commission, which was formerly known as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Facilities (JCAHO).

Stroke patients come to Kernan for rehabilitation after being treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, also part of the University of Maryland Medical System, and other hospitals throughout the region. The medical center developed one of the nation’s first stroke centers, and in 1996, created the region’s first Brain Attack Team, which provides rapid evaluation and treatment of stroke patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Kernan Hospital, which has served the community for more than 100 years, offers a wide range of treatments and programs for adults and children. The William Donald Schaefer Rehabilitation Center at Kernan has four inpatient units, each geared to a particular type of injury or level of care. In addition to the stroke unit, there are specialized units for patients with traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord/multiple traumatic injuries as well as those who need comprehensive medical rehabilitation. The center offers physical, occupational, recreational, speech and language therapy as well as psychological and behavioral science services. Outpatient physical therapy is available at the hospital and at Kernan Physical Therapy locations in Woodlawn and Timonium.

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This page was last updated on: June 7, 2007.