Hartford Business Journal
November 13, 2023
Noting a significant gap in community exercise resources available to individuals with paralysis and other physical disabilities, a team from Gaylord Physical Therapy, Cheshire, created Exercise for Life (EX4L), a free, high-intensity exercise program that has been shown to improve participants’ strength, function, and ultimately, their quality of life.
Gaylord Specialty Healthcare’s Exercise for Life program has empowered more than 50 individuals with varying physical capabilities to pursue their individual fitness goals and regain their independence. The program fosters strong social connections among participants, creating a sense of community that promotes inclusion and mutual support.
New Haven Register
By Elizabeth L. T. Moore
September 22, 2023
WALLINGFORD — As Heather Wagner strummed her guitar to warm up her audience, they were warming up their bodies. Five stroke patients sat in a semicircle with a rehabilitation aide, an occupational therapist and Wagner, a music therapist, as part of the music therapy program at Gaylord Hospital.
People in this “hemi group” have one side of the body that is weaker due to stroke. They meet almost every day for therapy. On "Fun Fridays," Wagner joins, providing music for the group’s regular exercise session.
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WTNH News Channel 8
By Sarah Cody
September 28, 2023
WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – “I’m internally an Iron Man,” says Mike van Emmenes. “I have rods in my pelvis that will stay there for life.”
The result was a terrible biking accident in 2021. The Guilford dad suffered a shattered pelvis along with broken ribs and vertebrae.
Even so, one year and one week after this event, van Emmenes completed an Iron Man competition in Lake Placid.
“For me, to have my family there with me and to accomplish what I set out to do was tremendous, just tremendous,” he says.
Channel 3 News
By Marc Robbins
Sep. 19, 2023
HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - For the 11 years, Gaylord Hospital has sponsored a Bass Fishing Tournament for Military Veterans.
Twenty-five veterans and their boat captains looked for the right spot to catch “the big one” on Lake Congomond.
Boat Captain, Tommy Marzano said, “I do it for all the vets. I meet great people and get them out on the water. I really enjoy it.”
It’s not only a bonding experience for each pair but also the Vets delve into the excitement of reeling one in.
CTInsider
By Lise Klein
Sept. 17, 2023
Expanded meditation and wellness programs, a certified nursing assistant academy and added opportunities for research are among the recent initiatives at Wallingford’s Gaylord Specialty Healthcare spearheaded by President and CEO Sonja LaBarbera.
LaBarbera, 49, took the top job at Gaylord in 2019 and soon faced the challenge of dealing with the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic while keeping the nonprofit health system’s expansion on track.
CT Patch
By Michael Lemanski
August 21, 2023
SOUTHINGTON, CT — In 2018, current Southington resident Jessica Morea was living in Waterbury as a healthy active woman in her early 50s.
Then a devestating diagonosis changed her life forever, one that has since benefitted from a miraculous piece of medical technology she said has improved how she goes about her daily rituals.
One morning five years ago, she woke up with her hand completely numb, in her words, "almost as if I had slept on it the wrong way."
Record-Journal
By Sean Krofssik
August 16, 2023
WALLINGFORD – The Ken Murphy Memorial Open has been a Gaylord Hospital Sports Association tradition for more than two decades and will continue this Tuesday.
The Ken Murphy Memorial Open is a golf tournament for players with a physical disability or visual impairment and will feature about 24 golfers at The Farms Country Club – which borders Gaylord. It is named after Ken Murphy, Gaylord’s late Therapeutic Recreation supervisor. Murphy founded Gaylord Sports in 1995.
Fox 61 News
By Jim Altman
August 22, 2023
WALLINGFORD, Conn. — The game is the same, but those swinging the clubs have more power behind their shots. The power doesn’t come from a new club, it comes from their comeback stories.
Each year at the Farms Country Club in Wallingford, Gaylord Hospital’s Sports Association holds The Ken Murphy Memorial Open – it’s a golf tournament for adaptive players.
Katie Jolie, the program manager for the Sports Association said, “We have 24 adaptive golfers ready to go and we have people, some who have some type of physical disability or visual impairment playing against each other.”
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Hartford Courant
By Lori Riely
August 23, 2023
Joe Graham wishes that someone had come into school to talk to him about making better decisions, about thinking first before acting rashly and doing something that could cause himself harm.
In July 2016, Graham, 35, of East Windsor, dove into a shallow pool at a friend’s house, hit the side of the pool with his head and broke his neck.
He is now an ambassador for the ThinkFirst education program at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, which travels to schools and talks to students about the possibilities of spinal cord injuries and how to prevent them.
WTNH News Channel 8
By Lisa Carberg
August 2, 2023
WALLINGFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Joe Graham loved being active and having fun fishing, camping and being with his girlfriend, Tanya Banning.
Then, a moment at a party in July 2016 changed his life forever.
Graham was grilling burgers, drinking beer and swimming when he decided to dive into an above-ground pool. But, he dove in with so much force that he went head-first into the other side of the pool.