New Accreditation Affirms Special Tree’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program is One-of-a-Kind in Michigan
Special Tree Earns International CARF Accreditation for Multiple Rehabilitation Programs, Adds Spinal Cord Injury
For the first time, Special Tree has added CARF accreditation for their enhanced Spinal Cord Injury Inpatient, Outpatient, and Residential programs. The new accreditation now makes Special Tree a Comprehensive Integrated Inpatient Rehabilitation Program (CIIPR), the only organization of it’s kind worldwide to achieve CARF-accreditation for both brain injury and spinal cord injury specialty for adults in a skilled nursing facility.
Special Tree also earned re-accreditation for several of its rehabilitation and specialty programs which it has pursued voluntarily since 1991. The Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International (CARF) is the highest quality rating a healthcare rehabilitation provider can receive.
The new Spinal Cord Injury Program accreditation recognizes Special Tree’s efforts to build a comprehensive, clinically-based post-acute SCI program, one of the few in Michigan, according to Megen McDonough, Special Tree’s Executive Director of Clinical Rehabilitation Services. “For patients, this distinction means they’ll find the highest standards of medical care and rehabilitation for all levels of spinal cord injury throughout every stage of recovery.”
For rehabilitation programs to achieve CARF Accreditation, Special Tree welcomed a virtual team of heath care experts from around the country who looked closely at each aspect of the way Special Tree provides care, works together, and runs as an organization. Special Tree was surveyed on hundreds of quality standards and best practices, and interviews were held with employees, patients, families, and external partners.
“Few organizations have achieved this level of accreditation that are not in a hospital,” remarked one of the CARF Surveyors at the exit conference. Additionally, the Survey team commended Special Tree for meeting every CARF quality standard.
Special Tree has earned a three-year CARF Accreditation for the following programs:
Home and Community Services: Brain Injury Specialty Program (Adults)
CC Rehab (a subsidiary of Special Tree)Inpatient Rehabilitation Programs – Skilled Nursing Brain Injury Specialty Program (Adults)
Inpatient Rehabilitation Programs -Skilled Nursing Spinal Cord Specialty Program (Adults)
Interdisciplinary Outpatient Medical Rehabilitation Programs: Brain Injury Specialty Program (Adults)
Interdisciplinary Outpatient Medical Rehabilitation Programs: Brain Injury Specialty Program (Children and Adolescents)
Interdisciplinary Outpatient Medical Rehabilitation Programs: Spinal Cord Injury Specialty Program (Adults