After your initial stay in an acute care hospital, it's important to go to a rehabilitation hospital that best suits your needs. One very important factor you need to consider is its location. There are 'model' spinal cord injury centers throughout the United States so you have a wide geographic location to choose from. Realize that the farther you are away from family and friends the harder it will be for them to visit, and you will most likely be an inpatient at a rehab center for a few months. Talk to your family about all aspects of your rehabilitation stay before you make your final decision.
Model SCI Centers across the United States work together to demonstrate improved care, maintain a national database, participate in independent and collaborative research, and provide continuing education relating to spinal cord injury. Projects are currently located in the following states:
Alabama
Model Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System
University of Alabama at Birmingham
SCI Care System
Amie B. Jackson, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Spain Rehabilitation Center, Room 529
619 19th Street South Birmingham, AL 35249-7330
Contact: Pam Mott voice: (205) 934-3334
TTY: (205) 934-4642 fax: (205) 975-4691
e-mail: mott@uab.edu
http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=10712
California
Northern California Regional Spinal Cord Injury System
Peter C. Werner, MD and Tamara Bushnik, PhD
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
950 South Bascom Avenue, Suite 2011 San Jose, CA 95128
Contact: Tamara Bushnik
toll free: 1 (800) 352-1956 ext. 24
voice: (408) 295-9896
fax: (408) 295-9913
e-mail: tamara@tbi-sci.org
http://www.tbi-sci.org/
Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System of
Southern California
Robert L. Waters, MD and Rob Adkins, PhD
Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center
Los Amigos Research and Education Institute, Inc.
(LAREI)
7601 East Imperial Highway, HB 206 Downey, CA 90242-4155 Contact:
Robert L. Waters, MD
voice: (562) 401-7161
TTY: (562) 803-4533
fax: (562) 803-5623
e-mail: rwaters@dhs.co.la.ca.us
Colorado
Rocky Mountain Model Spinal Cord Injury System
Daniel P. Lammertse, MD and Gale G. Whiteneck, PhD
Craig Hospital, Research Department
3425 South Clarkson Street Englewood, CO 80110
Contact: Susan B. Charlifue, MA
voice: (303) 789-8306
TTY: (303) 789-8375
fax: (303) 789-8567
e-mail: susie@craighospital.org
http://www.craighospital.org/C_Research/
C_researchInfo.html
Florida
South Florida Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System
Marca L. Sipski, MD
University of Miami School of Medicine
P.O. Box 016960, R-48 Miami, FL 33101-9844
Contact: Marca L. Sipski, MD
voice: (305) 324-3174
fax: (305) 243-3395
e-mail: msipski@miamiproject.med.miami.edu
Georgia
Georgia Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System
David F. Apple, Jr., MD and Lesley M. Hudson, MA
Shepherd Center, Inc. 2020 Peachtree Road,
NW Atlanta, GA 30309-1402
Contact: Lesley M. Hudson, MA, Project Co-Director
voice: (404) 350-7582
fax: (404) 350-7596
e-mail: lesley_hudson@shepherd.org
http://www.shepherd.org/research/model.htm
Illinois
Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System
Paul R. Meyer, Jr., MD, MM and David Chen, MD
Northwestern University
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
250 East Superior Street, Suite 619
Chicago, IL 60611
Contact: Marta Slechta
voice: (312) 908-3425
fax: (312) 908-1819
e-mail: m-slechta@nwu.edu
http://www.nwu.edu/spine/
Massachusetts
Special Projects and Demonstrations for
Spinal Cord Injuries
Shanker Nesathuria, MD and Stanley Ducharme, PhD
Boston Medical Center
New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center
88 East Newton Street, F-511 Boston, MA 02118
Contact: Tricia Regan
voice: (617) 638-7302
fax: (617) 638-7313
e-mail: ducharme@bu.edu
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/Depertments/
HomeMain.asp?DepartmentID=91
Michigan
Southeastern Michigan Spinal Cord Injury System
Marcel Dijkers, PhD
Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan
261 Mack Boulevard Detroit, MI 48201
Contact: Marcel Dijkers, PhD
voice: (313) 993-7891
fax: (313) 966-7502
e-mail: marcel.dijkers@mssm.edu
University of Michigan Model Spinal Cord Injury
Care System
A ustin Nobunaga, MD and Denise G. Tate, PhD
University of Michigan Health System
Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
300 North Ingalls, Room NI2A09
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0491
Contact: Rosalie Karunas, MPH, Database Manager
voice: (734) 763-0971
fax: (734) 936-5492
e-mail: rosakaru@umich.edu
http://www.med.umich.edu/pmr/model_sci/
Missouri
Missouri Model Spinal Cord Injury System
Kristofer Hagglund, PhD
University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
One Hospital Drive, DC046.10
Columbia, MO 65212
Contact: Joanne Willett, Grant Administrator
Toll free: (800) 720-6286
voice: (573) 884-7972
TTY: (573) 882-4936
fax: (573) 884-2902
e-mail: willettjm@health.missouri.edu
http://www.muhealth.org/~momscis/modsys.htm
New Jersey
Northern New Jersey Model Spinal Cord Injury System
Joel A. DeLisa, MD, David S. Tulsky, Ph.D. and
Steven Kirshblum, MD.
Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research &: Education Corp.
1199 Pleasant Valley Way West Orange, NJ 07052
Contact: David Tulsky, Ph.D.
voice: (973) 243-6849
fax: (973) 243-6861
email: dtulsky@kmrrec.org
http://www.kmrrec.org/NNJSCIS/
New York
Mount Sinai Model Spinal Cord Injury System
Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, MD and Wayne Gordon. PhD
The Mount Sinai Medical Center Department of
Rehabilitation Medicine
One Gustave Levy Place,
Box 1240 New York,
NY 10029-6574
Contact: Audrey Schmerzler, Project Coordinator
voice: (212) 659-9369
fax: (212) 348-5901
e-mail: audrey.schmerzler@mssm.edu
http://www.mssm.edu/rehab/spinal
Pennsylvania
Regional Spinal Cord Injury System of Delaware
Valley John F. Ditunno, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Jefferson Medical College
132 S. 10th Street,
375 Main Bldg. Philadelphia,
PA 19107
Contact: Mary Patrick, RN, Project Coordinator
voice: (215) 955-6579
fax: (215) 955-5152
e-mail: mary.call@mail.tju.edu
http://www.jeffersonhealth.org/spinalcordcenter
Texas
Model Spinal Cord Injury System - Texas
R. Edward Carter, MD
The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research
(TIRR)
1333 Moursund Avenue Houston,
TX 77030-3408
Contact: Karen A. Hart, PhD
voice: (713) 797-5946
TTY: (713) 797-5790
fax: (713) 797-5982
e-mail: khart@bcm.tmc.edu
http://www.tirr.org/research/spinalcord.html
Texas - Model Spinal Cord Injury System
William H. Donovan, MD
The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research
(TIRR)
1333 Moursund Avenue Houston,
TX 77030-3408
Contact: Karen A. Hart, PhD
voice: (713) 797-5946
TTY: (713) 797-5790
fax: (713) 797-5982
e-mail: khart@bcm.tmc.edu http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/pm&r/sci/research/modelsystem
Virginia
Virginia Commonwealth Regional Spinal Cord Injury System
William O. McKinley, MD and David S. Cifu, MD
Virginia Commonwealth University/ Medical College of Virginia
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Box 980677
Richmond, VA 23298-0677
Contact: William O. McKinley, MD
voice: (804) 828-0861
fax: (804) 828-5074
e-mail: wmckinle@gems.vcu.edu
http://www.pmr.vcu.edu/division/sci/index.html
Washington
Northwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury System
Diana D. Cardenas, MD and Walter C. Stolov, MD
University of Washington, School of Medicine
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine
Box 356490
Seattle, WA 98195-6490
Contact: Cynthia Salzman, Public Information Specialist
voice: (206) 685-3999
fax: (206) 685-3244
e-mail: csalzman@u.washington.edu http://depts.washington.edu/rehab/sci/