Gaylord Model Center

Gaylord Hospital has partnered with Boston Medical Center to become one of 14 Model Spinal Cord Injury Model Centers. As the New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center (NERSCIC) at Gaylord, we are involved in spinal cord injury-related care and research. 

The mission of the Model System is to embody a vision of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary service delivery system in which the finest talents work with the person with SCI to achieve his or her maximal potential. Gaylord has been working closely with Boston Medical Center on site-specific research as well as collaborative research efforts with other Model Systems. Our goals are to participate in research, collaborate on clinical services, and work on training and dissemination of information.

Gaylord offers research participation for the Model Center Database Collection.  To be eligible at the Gaylord site, one usually starts participating as an inpatient at Gaylord Hospital ’s spinal cord injury program. The National Database draws from all 14 centers, with more than 1,000 participants over the last 30 years. This data collection identifies and evaluates trends in etiology, sociodemographics, injury severity, health services delivery and treatment. It further helps to establish standards of treatment, and facilitates further research and publications.  While data collection starts as an inpatient, it continues at year one after injury, and every fifth year thereafter.

Gaylord is also working closely with our partners in Boston in research regarding Teleheath. With additional funding from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we are in the process of developing an automated telephone-based tool for screening, referral, and education designed to promote health and to prevent the secondary conditions of paralysis as a result of spinal cord dysfunction (spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis). We have been working on many modules, such as pressure ulcer, depression, health care utilization, and community integration. We will conduct a preliminary qualitative evaluation of the usability and acceptability of these modules and will further modify, refine and improve them. We also will conduct a randomized clinical trial comparing Telehealth to the standard of care to evaluate its efficacy.

Gaylord is also partnering with Boston to pursue research in improving functional outcomes monitoring in SCI. Using computer adaptive testing (CAT), we will apply item response theory to develop an SCI functional activity instrument with sensitivity to changes in function. We plan to create a pool of functional activity items, field test the items, then develop and evaluate the prototype SCI- CAT, and conduct the pilot study.

We continue to collaborate clinically within NERSCIC, not only in educational opportunities, but also standards of care and protocol review/development.  This is an ongoing project, with regular communication between Gaylord and Boston .

There is also the opportunity for Gaylord to collaborate with other Model Centers outside of NERSCIC. We are in the planning stages of collaboration with other Model Centers regarding research in quality of life and participation following spinal cord injury.

David Rosenblum,M.D., is Gaylord’s principal investigator and director of the Model Center at Gaylord. He is Board certified in spinal cord injury medicine as well as physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Rosenblum works closely with Steve Williams, M.D., chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine; Alan Jette, Ph.D., director of the BU Health and Disability Research Institute and Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health;  Bethlyn Houlihan, MSW, MPH, senior project manager for NERSCIC, and Jane Wierbicky, RN, clinical services director for the NERSCIC and coordinator for the Telehealth  Project.

Gaylord Receives Green Light for 36-Bed Expansion

Construction is underway for a 36-bed patient pavilion at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Connecticut. The expansion program is designed to accommodate a growing number of patients in need of the special care that the hospital provides as a long-term acute care hospital.

Licensed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health as a long-term chronic disease hospital, Gaylord Hospital operates as a long-term acute care hospital that specializes in the care and treatment of medically complex patients and in rehabilitation. Long-term acute care (LTAC) is a recognized designation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for acute care hospitals whose average length of stay is at least 25 days. LTAC hospitals provide specialized care services to manage serious medical conditions following an acute hospital stay so that patients with catastrophic or acute illnesses and injuries can work toward recovery.

Occupancy rates at Gaylord Hospital have exceeded 90% during the past two years and currently exceed 95%. Demand for Gaylord’s inpatient services continues to grow and cannot be met with the current number of beds. Gaylord Hospital has expanded its services to meet the needs of Connecticut’s residents—especially those who have experienced serious medical conditions or disabling injuries or illnesses. Over the years, Gaylord Hospital has developed innovative programs and services designed to serve this growing patient population.

Connecticut—along with the rest of the country—is growing older. Gaylord Hospital’s application with the State of Connecticut Office of Health Care Access for additional beds is not only appropriate for the demand it is seeing today, but also has the foresight to better serve the health care needs of our aging population. Studies show—and we are already seeing—that as we grow older, we will see greater numbers of people with chronic conditions such as pulmonary disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Gaylord Hospital offers the people of Connecticut a much-needed hospital level of care after their inpatient stay in an acute care hospital for the treatment of serious medical conditions and rehabilitation before they can be safely discharged home or to another care facility.

Gaylord Hospital provides a hospital level of care with 24-hour physician, nursing and respiratory care onsite. Inpatient services consist of the medical and rehabilitation divisions. The medical division provides care for patients with complex medical issues due to illness, injury or post-operative complications. Gaylord Hospital staff has acclaimed expertise in the care and weaning patients from ventilators. The rehabilitation division offers programs in brain injury, neurological rehabilitation, orthopedics, spinal cord injury and stroke.

Over the past year, Gaylord Hospital served 1,279 inpatients from 171 towns within Connecticut and some from other states. Typically, Gaylord Hospital treats patients who require extended hospitalization (25 or more days) for the treatment of serious medical conditions and injuries.

Gaylord Hospital provides the perfect fit in the health care continuum offering a hospital level of care after their inpatient stay in an acute care hospital. Gaylord Hospital gives people extended hospitalization for the treatment of serious medical conditions and rehabilitation while providing recovery time and attention needed to gain strength and improved health before discharge to home or another care facility.

For more information about careers in health care at Gaylord Hospital, call Human Resources at (203) 284-2844 or visit Employment Opportunities.

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