CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 8, 2024 – Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation, which is a part of Advocate Health, announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement with National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN, a rehabilitation organization in Ukraine. This partnership aims to provide specialized education and training to enhance Ukraine’s rehabilitation workforce, addressing the urgent need for rehabilitation services in a region affected by war.
The partnership will involve hosting clinicians from Ukraine in Charlotte for a series of visits in 2025 to learn about clinical services, education and training, and research. It is part of Atrium Health’s Global Health Care program, which connects international partners with experts within the organization to share best practices, develop innovative care solutions and improve clinical outcomes in communities all over the world.
Carolinas Rehabilitation is uniquely positioned to help Ukraine expand its rehabilitation workforce and improve the quality of specialized education and training. As the first and only rehabilitation hospital in the United States selected by the World Health Organization to serve on the World Rehabilitation Alliance, Carolinas Rehabilitation is committed to enhancing the global rehabilitation workforce and improving access to rehabilitation during emergencies and disasters around the world.
“We are honored to collaborate with UNBROKEN to provide much-needed rehabilitation expertise,” said Robert Larrison, group vice president, Atrium Health Rehabilitation Network and Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation. “We want to extend our knowledge, expertise and resources to others who can benefit, and we often learn as much as we teach when we participate in these kinds of exchanges.”
Prior to the war, the rehabilitation sector in Ukraine faced significant challenges, including a shortage of qualified specialists, structured methodologies and standardized protocols. In response to the increasing number of critically injured patients arriving in Lviv from the frontlines, Ukraine established the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center, along with additional rehabilitation units across all hospitals within the First Lviv Territorial Medical Union. Over the past two years, it has expanded the country’s rehabilitation capacity from 26 beds to 260. Despite this progress, the complexity of their patients’ needs requires cutting-edge expertise and additional training.
“Rehabilitation is founded on the essential relationship between patient and therapist,” said Ihor Koshivka, head of rehabilitation at the First Lviv Territorial Medical Union. “Our mission is to provide our patients with the highest standard of care by ensuring our specialists are leaders in their field. Atrium Health’s support in training our professionals is key to achieving this. We are committed to advancing our rehabilitation system to become one of the most innovative, and this memorandum is a crucial step toward that goal.”
During the series of visits, UNBROKEN’s rehabilitation clinicians and Carolinas Rehabilitation team will exchange information about topics such as patient safety, clinical strategies and pathways, workforce planning, training opportunities, teaching techniques, employee engagement and professional development, research strategy, stakeholder engagement and collaborative research opportunities.
Atrium Health Carolinas Rehabilitation was recently recognized as the No. 7 rehabilitation hospital in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. In recent years, it has begun expanding its outreach and impact internationally, beginning with the establishment of its first-ever global partnership with Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI) , in Doha, Qatar, in 2022. Carolinas Rehabilitation is helping it meet the qualifications for accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF®), which ultimately helps rehabilitation service providers meet international standards for quality.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, which was created from the combination with Advocate Aurora Health. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association’s Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing nearly $3 billion in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits in 2023.
About Unbroken
National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN works on the basis of the First Lviv Medical Union in Ukraine, the largest medical institution in western Ukraine. It has more than 3,000 beds, and it includes two adult hospitals, one children’s hospital, two rehabilitation centers and two maternity hospitals. All institutions provide a full range of treatment services. This means that the institutions are approached with the most difficult patients who have suffered both from the war and from other circumstances. UNBROKEN’s mission is to treat, rehabilitate, provide prosthetics for and reintegrate Ukrainians in Ukraine. At the heart of the UNBROKEN ecosystem is the National Rehabilitation Center. At the center, servicemen and civilians, both adults and children who have lost limbs, receive comprehensive qualified medical care. Since the beginning of the war, more than 18,000 wounded Ukrainians have been treated at the center, including 2,000 children. In addition, the UNBROKEN charity fund was created, which collects funds for social projects of physical, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation. The project is implemented by the First Medical Society of Lviv and the Lviv City Council with the support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
About Advocate Health Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs 155,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to providing equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.
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