Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center
New facility offers more space, improved features
for patients, families and staff

For many neurological patients, a successful surgery or treatment is often just the first step down a long road to recovery. Some patients may need only a few days to get back on track, while others require months of extensive rehabilitation. The opening of the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center in mid-February not only enhanced Barrow’s ability to care for these patients, but also expanded its
capacity.

James Craig Brooke works out with the help of Kristen McGinley, OT, in Brent’s Gym, a new gym for patients with spinal-cord injuries funded by Stephanie and Guy Inzalaco. Carol Browner, RN, Spinal Cord Injury Program supervisor, assists Jean Oh.

To a unit with a multi-page waiting list, the move into the newly renovated space is significant. The new center offers 52 patient beds—up from 38 beds in the old unit—with 18 private and 17 semi-private rooms.

A special area for children Five private rooms, two more than in the old unit, are dedicated to pediatric patients, a population in dire need of more
services. The new pediatric area also offers a dedicated pediatric gym and staff who subspecialize in pediatrics. Barrow is the only in-patient
acute rehab licensed in Arizona to provide pediatric rehab.

The new Neuro Rehabilitation Center also includes a secure five-bed area with special safety features and a gym dedicated to patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), who tend to require closer supervision.“These dedicated areas will allow our TBI patients to receive one-on-one treatment in a less stimulating environment, which will help them concentrate better,” says Christina Kwasnica, MD, medical director of Neuro Rehabilitation. “The gym will also help keep these patients safer, offering them a space to move around in without the fear of getting disoriented.”

The Neuro Rehabilitation Center is the only rehabilitation unit in the state with accreditation for its brain and spinal-cord injury programs from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. The center admits more than 520 patients each year and has an average length of stay of 25 days. Its patients tend to have a higher-than-normal acuity level, meaning that their conditions are more severe than the national average.

New center boasts extras

In addition to more beds, the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center features:

• Three gyms—one for patients with spinal-cord injuries and other neuro diagnoses, one for patients with traumatic brain injury, and one for pediatric patients.
• A café area with computer and DVD access.
• A transitional apartment for patients and families preparing to leave the hospital.
• Ceiling lifts to assist in the movement of patients with spinal-cord injuries.
• Voice-activated environmental-control units in select rooms.

Easing the rehab-bed shortage About a third of qualified patients are turned away from the Neuro Rehabilitation Center due to a lack of beds. While the expansion will be helpful, there are already tentative plans to add even more beds to the third floor of the building in the near future. There are several reasons why Barrow’s neurorehabilitation services are so coveted, says Meg Black, RN, BS, Neuro Rehabilitation admissions coordinator. She cites program-specific therapy and nursing staff, neuropsychology services, clinical supervisors who help with patient and family education, and a nurse case manager and medical social workers who help patients with all aspects of their care through discharge and beyond.

The 240 Building is the home of the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center.

William Snyder practices swallowing technniques with the guidance of Stacey Clark, MS, CCC-SLP, in the new kitchen.

“We use the team approach to help with continuity of care,” she says. “With rehabilitation, you see subtle changes on a daily basis. You won’t observe those changes with a revolving door of staff.”

A $1.2-million thank you Deborah and Bruce Downey have their own opinion of what puts Barrow in a league of its own—exceptional care. Bruce was a Neuro Rehabilitation patient in early 2003, after coming down with transverse myelitis, an uncommon neurological syndrome caused by inflammation of the spinal cord. After five weeks of intensive physical, occupational and recreational therapy, Bruce was well on his way to a complete recovery.

Two years later, Bruce and his wife, Deborah, expressed their gratitude by making a $1.2-million gift for construction of the new center.

“Our hope is that our gift allows more people to get the exceptional care I received,” says Bruce.

Their donation has helped make the new center the most comprehensive neuro rehabilitation unit in the state, staff say. “Now that our services are located in one area, we have one of the safest, most-accessible and user- friendly units for staff and patients,” says Jo Lemons- Crawford, Neuro Rehabilitation pediatric coordinator. And that makes the road to recovery just a little bit smoother. ■

“Bruce, by your actions you have spoken volumes to this staff. It’s nice for us to be thanked and appreciated, but you have done so much more. You know that phrase ‘Pay it forward’? That’s what you have done. Somewhere along the line during your illness, a doctor, nurse, aide or therapist made a difference for you, and you decided in turn to pay it forward to make a difference for others. This rehab center named for you and Deborah is your legacy for others. And the dedication of the center today gives us a way to say ‘Thank you’ for this wonderful gift. We, in turn, rededicate ourselves to pay it forward with courteous, unhurried and respectful care to our future patients so that your legacy becomes our legacy as well, and your spirit lives on in the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center at Barrow. On behalf of our staff, thank you very, very much.” - Carol Browner, RN, in remarks during the dedication of the Deborah and Bruce Downey Neuro Rehabilitation Center, March 5, 2007