Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
At Mount Sinai, our team of spinal cord injury (SCI) specialists focuses on improving your quality of life after you experience a spinal cord injury, while also providing emotional support for you and your family. With both inpatient and outpatient services, we use the latest therapeutic interventions and assistive technology to help you regain your independence. We will develop an individualized treatment plan to help you meet your personal goals at Mount Sinai and beyond.
Our rehabilitative care experts provide comprehensive specialty services, from inpatient rehabilitation through community re-entry. We serve individuals with all levels and severities of spinal cord injury, traumatic and non-traumatic, including those who are ventilator-dependent.
Why Choose Mount Sinai?
We are proud to offer the only Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) rehabilitation program in New York City that is recognized by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). CARF-accreditation demonstrates our commitment to consistently improving and updating our services and focusing on the individual needs of each of our patients in order to create a supportive and safe atmosphere for rehabilitation. In addition, the quality of our nursing care has been recognized with the prestigious Magnet award.
Mount Sinai is proud to be a national leader in the field of spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Our excellence in clinical care and research is reflected in our designation as a Model System for Spinal Cord Injury, one of only 14 programs nationwide.
The exceptional clinical and research programs we offer span the continuum of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and are available to individuals following any type of spinal cord injury (SCI).
Inpatient Services
At Mount Sinai, we offer comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation to aid recovery and help transition patients from the hospital environment to home. The treatment team includes neuropsychologists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, physicians, social workers, speech language pathologists, and therapeutic recreation specialists.
Innovative and coordinated therapy programs are delivered by a highly trained and experienced group of professionals, who work together as an interdisciplinary team to develop, implement, and coordinate every patient’s individualized program of care. To maximize functional recovery, each patient receives a minimum of three hours of therapy five days per week.
Services and qualities unique to Mount Sinai’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation program include:
- Clinical programs addressing functional recovery, community reintegration, peer support, and socialization that span the continuum of care
- Constant communication between all professionals to ensure the most specialized and groundbreaking therapies are used for our patients in order to maximize recovery
- A dedicated social worker with expertise in helping persons with SCI transition to home
- Education and support for families, who may be newly moving into a care taker role
- Hospital-based inpatient rehabilitation, allowing for a higher level of medical supervision than is available in free-standing rehabilitation hospitals
- Medical and psychological management of arousal and behavioral conditions
- Peer mentors with spinal cord injury are integrated into the patients rehabilitation team
- Pet therapy with licensed therapy dogs
- Physiatrists with specialty training and board certification in spinal cord injury medicine
In addition, all persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) have the opportunity to use a full range of advanced rehabilitative technologies, including:
- Body weight-supported ambulation
- Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) cycle ergometry for both the upper and lower limbs
- Motorized cycle ergometry systems for both the upper and lower limbs (i.e. MotoMed)
- Myoelectric biofeedback directed electrical stimulation (i.e. NeuroMove)
- Powered exoskeletons for the lower limbs (i.e. Ekso, ReWalk)
- Robotic exoskeleton training systems for the upper limbs (i.e. Armeo)
- Video gaming systems chosen to facilitate motor control, balance, hand-eye coordination, strength, and well-being (i.e. Wii and Kinect)
Outpatient Services
The Mount Sinai Hospital campus offers a comprehensive array of services for individuals with spinal cord injury on an outpatient basis. In addition to individual physical and occupational therapy sessions, individuals are afforded the opportunity to participate in our group programs which facilitate peer support and community integration. We also offer a specialty wheelchair and seating program ensure that our patients are safe, comfortable and utilizing the most up-to-date mobility system tailored to their individual needs.