Clinic to Offer Therapies Not Available to Hoosiers

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Armed with a $1 million grant and a new high-profile partnership, the founder and executive director of Lawrence-based NeuroHope says he expects the new physical therapy clinic for patients recovering from brain and spinal cord injuries to cast a wider net. Chris Leeuw says the support from the state’s Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Fund will expand services and bring to Indiana therapies that are not currently available. The center, which launched three years ago, is now part of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s NeuroRecovery Network and has exceeded its early target of providing services to 50 patients.

During an interview with Barbara Lewis in The Business of Health, Leeuw said NeuroHope is designed to fill a gap created after patients are discharged from the hospital. "Traditional health care is a little bit limited in what they can offer, because it’s insurance-based," he said. "Individuals have to go home very quickly. They need to learn how to adapt to their injuries. They need to learn how to live with their new life skills, which is very, sorely needed. What we can do now is we can say, OK look, this is going to be a place where you can continue your recovery. You can continue exercise programs to merge therapy with wellness and specifically some of the unique therapy interventions we have now as a member of the NeuroRecovery Network."

Other NeuroRecovery Network hospitals include Craig Hospital in Colorado, Frazier Rehab Institute in Louisville, Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Center, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia and Ohio State University Medical Center.

"I rehabbed at a place that was part of this network for my spinal injury recovery and became really moved by some of the interventions that they had there and wanted badly to bring that to Indiana," Leeuw said.

NeuroHope opened in December in the Incrediplex and is hosting an open house event Friday.