Only Chicago-area academic medical center to receive CARF Stroke Specialty Program accreditation
MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Loyola University Health System has become the only Chicago-area academic medical center to be accredited as a rehabilitation stroke specialty program by CARF International.
CARF also has re-accredited Loyola's acute rehabilitation unit for the maximum three years.
CARF International, formerly known as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, is an independent nonprofit accrediting body that establishes consumer-focused standards.
CARF accreditation ensures that a center conforms to national and international service standards. These standards have been developed with input from consumers, rehabilitation professionals, state and national organizations and funding organizations. The peer-review accreditation process includes a site visit from a team of surveyors.
Loyola's stroke rehabilitation unit offers a full range of services to help patients achieve the best possible quality of life, including physical, occupational and speech therapies. Physicians, rehabilitation nurses, therapists, social workers and psychologists work with patients to improve motor function, mobility, gait, speech, coordination and psychological well-being.
"We work hand-in-hand with our neurologists and stroke team to develop an individualized rehabilitation plan for each patient," said Dr. Steve Gnatz, medical director, rehabilitation. "We also connect patients to support groups and rehabilitation services in their communities."
Loyola's stroke rehabilitation unit is closely integrated with its acute stroke unit, which treats patients immediately following a stroke. Loyola has been accredited by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center. Loyola also has been recognized by the American Stroke Association with its Get with the Guidelines® Stroke Gold Performance Award.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.