Shepherd Center Opens New Brain Injury Unit

The Rollins Acquired Brain Injury Program at Shepherd Center provides life-changing care to patients with acquired brain injuries (ABI), traumatic brain injuries, and stroke. And in August, it grew by 35 beds.

Hospital leadership and brain injury program staff celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the program’s newest unit on Aug. 3. The unit, located on the sixth floor of the Marcus-Woodruff Building, began serving patients and families on Aug. 4, as part of a phased opening.

"There's a lot of hope in what we do at Shepherd Center, and hope is certainly here on the sixth floor. We are so proud of the expanded access to allow patients with brain injuries to be well cared for," said Jamie Shepherd, MBA, MHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Shepherd Center.

In addition to having a new therapy gym and state-of-the-art equipment, the new unit enabled the conversion of all semi-private rooms throughout the hospital into private rooms, giving patients a space to call their own for the duration of their rehabilitation.

"It's amazing to be at Shepherd [and celebrate] all that we've been able to accomplish — to be able to have 35 new beds for ABI. Having the quality be consistent across all three units is really important to us, and I've had a great team of people who helped get this accomplished. It's super exciting,” said Katie Metzger, OTR, MBA, director of the Rollins Acquired Brain Injury Program.

The new unit brings the total capacity of the brain injury program to 85 beds, which means more patients with brain injuries will have access to the specialized care and expertise Shepherd Center’s clinicians offer. The new unit expands opportunities for patients with other diagnoses, too. The Comprehensive Rehabilitation Unit (CRU) is equipped to care for patients with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic amputations, dual diagnoses of spinal cord and brain injuries, pulmonary complications, multiple orthopedic injuries, and pressure injuries, as well as other neurological conditions. With more beds available for patients with brain injuries on the sixth floor, CRU will be able to admit more patients with other conditions.

The opening of the new unit is the culmination of years of planning and fundraising. Much of the funding for the new unit comes from Pursuing Possible: The Campaign for Shepherd Center, which concluded this spring. The campaign raised an incredible $446 million, which made the renovations needed for the new unit possible. Additionally, staff played a huge role in preparing the new unit for patients. Team members spent months planning details like the unit design, equipment procurement, staffing models, workflow processes, and communication systems, and worked hard to ensure consistency across all ABI units.

The opening of the new unit represents a new chapter in Shepherd Center’s history. But this new chapter is not unlike the one that started it all: people seeing a need and working to make sure it is met with expertise and compassion.

Written by Erin Kenney