The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Friday approved the establishment of a department of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) within the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Medicine.
The department’s establishment helps fill a critical gap in the health care continuum for all Nebraskans, UNMC officials said. With Nebraska’s aging population, the greater need for high quality rehabilitative services for stroke and other age-associated conditions will continue to grow – and the state is already underserved in PM&R services.
PM&R is a specialty branch of medicine which emphasizes diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and pain syndromes and the rehabilitation of patients with severe impairments. Simply put, once patients are past initial treatment for trauma, it is PM&R physicians – known as physiatrists – who help patients go the rest of the way.
Physiatrists frequently work with interdisciplinary teams of health professionals in order to provide comprehensive rehabilitation programs for patients.
Bradley Britigan, M.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine, noted the new department is not only the first of its kind in Nebraska – but that there are only four, total, in bordering states.
“There is a need for the highest quality, comprehensive post-acute care for the most complex trauma patients being discharged from hospitals in the Midwest,” Dr. Britigan said.
In addition to the establishment of an academic department, UNMC in November 2014 entered into an Institutional Affiliation Agreement with Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. Both Madonna and UNMC/Nebraska Medicine will work together to advance their clinical, teaching and research missions, as well as technology development.
“We have a shared vision to become the region’s most trusted source of education, research and innovation in the area of physical rehabilitation and rehabilitation,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “This next step brings us far in this direction.”
“Madonna is excited about this next step in advancing physical medicine and rehabilitation education and clinical practice at UNMC. It means we are that much close to realizing our new academic and clinical relationship with UNMC and Nebraska Medicine,” said Paul Dongilli Jr., Ph.D., Omaha Campus administrator and COO of Madonna. “Our partnership will bring together the expertise of two outstanding health care organizations for clinical medical expertise and academic training to benefit patients.
A new Madonna rehab and long-term care hospital at Village Pointe in Omaha, set to open in 2016, will serve as the primary training site for a proposed UNMC-supported residency program in PM&R, the first in Nebraska and one of the few in the upper Midwest. Establishment of the residency program will require approval of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
No new state funding is anticipated in support of the new department, as Madonna will assist in the financial support of department programs. In anticipation of its 2016 launch, the department will immediately begin recruitment of a founding chair and additional faculty.
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