Shepherd Center To Open New Spinal Cord Injury Unit

ATLANTA (Oct. 7., 2009) -- On Monday, Oct. 19, the fifth floor of Shepherd Center’s Marcus-Woodruff Building will open as a new spinal cord injury treatment and rehabilitation unit.

The 35,000-square-foot unit features 35 private rooms for patients, which is double the number previously available to patients with spinal cord injuries, plus a rehabilitation gym, classroom, conference room and office space.

The new spinal cord injury unit is part of a $9.8 million renovation and remodeling project that also includes the expansion of the brain injury unit. Funding was made possible by the generosity of individuals and organizations whose gifts during a two-year fundraising campaign will ultimately fund the entire cost of the renovation project.

In the first move on Oct. 19, SCI patients on the third floor of the Shepherd Building and some on the second floor of Shepherd will move to the fifth floor of Marcus-Woodruff.

Two weeks later, NeuroSpecialty Unit patients on the fourth floor of Marcus-Woodruff will move to the third floor of Shepherd. And a week later, those remaining on the second floor of Shepherd will move to the fourth floor of Marcus-Woodruff.

Patient and family requests for more private rooms were a major factor in the build-out of the SCI unit. Another factor drove the SCI unit renovation – aesthetics. The new unit will have a brighter look than the current SCI unit, with larger rooms to accommodate the array of equipment required to treat patients with spinal cord injuries.

After SCI patients move from the second and third floors of Shepherd, the next phase of renovation will begin early next year. The second floor of the Shepherd Building will be renovated to allow the brain injury unit to grow in both the Marcus-Woodruff and Shepherd buildings, while continuing to serve neurospecialty patients.