Hospital for Special Surgery Opens Pediatric Rehab Center

Advance for Physical Therapy & Rehab Medicine—December 7, 2011

Hospital for Special Surgery announced Oct. 6 the completion of the state-of-the-art CA Technologies Rehabilitation Center, the first stage of the new Lerner Children's Pavilion to be opened in mid-2012. The 7,000-square-foot Pediatric Rehabilitation Center is now double the size and patient capacity of the former facility.

The new center will allow the hospital to accommodate more than 30,000 patient visits annually. Often, children will rehabilitate at the center after surgery at HSS, where surgeons perform 2,500 orthopedic surgeries for children and adolescents per year.

"Our physical, occupational and speech therapists build strong relationships with children and adolescents and their families, providing emotional support along with rehabilitation therapy," says Magdalena Oledzka, physical therapist and pediatric rehabilitation section manager. "The new center is designed to help us create a welcoming, safe and healing environment for our young patients and their families to complement the extraordinary care they receive in therapy."

"In terms of recovery and treatment, it is important to have a space that encourages children and makes them feel at ease. The opening of this new center shows Hospital for Special Surgery's commitment to children and their care," says Dr. Roger Widmann, chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery.

This story originally appeared on advanceweb.com.