Children’s Hospital New Orleans first in Louisiana to earn Pediatric Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Certification

Children’s Hospital has joined an elite group nationally, as one of two children’s hospitals to earn accreditation in four pediatric rehabilitation programs offered by CARF International.

NEW ORLEANS – Children’s Hospital New Orleans is the only CARF accredited pediatric rehabilitation program in Louisiana and recently added an additional specialty to its prestigious lineup of specialty programs offered. Children’s is now accredited in the Spinal Cord Injury Specialty to accompany its accreditations in Inpatient Rehab, Pediatric Specialty, and Brain Injury Specialty by CARF International.

CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services, and serves as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. CARF International accreditation includes a comprehensive review to determine if a provider’s services meet international standards of quality. Achieving accreditation means the healthcare provider is committed to delivering safe and effective services and ongoing performance improvement.

“Children’s Hospital New Orleans’ Inpatient Rehab Program continues to set the standard for pediatric rehabilitation,” said Lucio A. Fragoso, President and CEO of Children’s Hospital New Orleans. “The recent Pediatric Spinal Cord Injury accreditation makes us one of only two pediatric rehabilitation programs in the country to have this level of accreditation, and the only one in the Gulf South. Children’s Hospital was founded as a rehabilitation hospital following the polio epidemic in 1955, and has maintained that strong commitment to pediatric rehabilitation for nearly 70 years.”

The Rehabilitation Center at Children’s Hospital provides comprehensive interdisciplinary, family-centered inpatient and outpatient services to patients from birth through 21 years. The dedicated inpatient rehabilitation unit is designed to provide the education and skills to prepare patients with a wide variety of diagnoses to transition home after an acute stay. Conditions treated include Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Guillain-Barre’, Transverse Myelitis, Encephalitis, Amputation, Brain Tumor, Trauma, among many other serious illnesses and injuries.

“Our team consistently demonstrates dedication and a commitment to excellence with the goal of providing the highest level of rehabilitation care to our pediatric population,” said Todd Danos, MBA, LOTR, FACHE, Assistant Vice President for Hospital Operations at Children’s Hospital. “Sustaining a spinal cord injury is a life-altering event for patients and their families. The CARF accreditation reinforces the outstanding work being done by our team in optimizing each patient’s functional well-being and enhancing their quality of life as they recover and learn to embrace their new normal.”

The rehabilitation program at Children’s Hospital helps children and adolescents concentrate on restoring abilities by helping them adapt to their new skills. Each patient is followed using a criteria-based system to evaluate functional skill development with respect to medical status, motor skills, cognitive and communicative abilities, self-care capabilities and the family’s unique needs. To learn more about the Rehabilitation Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, visit chnola.org.