From Tuberculosis Sanitorium to Rehabilitation Destination: Connecticut's Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Profiled by International Public Television Series, Travels & Traditions with Burt Wolf

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Apr 11, 2022, 10:12 ET

WALLINGFORD, Conn., April 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gaylord Specialty Healthcare is the subject of The Hospital of the Future episode of the international public television series Travels & Traditions with Burt Wolf that will begin to air in the U.S. in April.

The half-hour episode, which can be viewed here, traces Gaylord's history from its beginnings in 1902 as a tuberculosis sanatorium to its present status as a destination for complex medical and rehabilitative care for people recovering from devastating illnesses and injuries.

"The Hospital of the Future" episode of Travels & Traditions with Burt Wolf explores Gaylord Specialty Healthcare's rich history and "Think Possible" culture as a destination center for people seeking to restore their health and function following devastating illnesses and injuries.

Long-term care hospitals provide life-transforming, highly technological care to the nation's sickest, most devastatingly injured patients. Pictured here is Jillian Harpin, paralyzed from a spinal cord injury, walking in a bionic exoskeleton.

The Hospital of the Future highlights Gaylord's Think Possible culture through interviews from leadership, staff and former patients including Jillian Harpin, who sustained a spinal cord injury at 23 after falling off a third-floor hotel balcony in Mexico; Garrett Mendez, a hockey player who suffered a massive brain stem stroke at 19 after hitting his head during a game; and Sonia Bonsu, a young professional who suffered full-body paralysis after developing a viral infection called ADEM while visiting family in Ghana.

Wolf said that his motivation stemmed from his own experience of piecing together a rehabilitation plan after suffering a heart attack. He learned about Gaylord through a friend and realized that its approach would have benefited his recovery - if he had only known.

"The way our team approaches our patients sets us apart," said Gaylord Specialty Healthcare President and CEO Sonja LaBarbera. "We work collaboratively with patients and their families to set individualized goals and work toward returning people to their highest level of function. People come to us during a very difficult time and we give them back their lives."

Travels & Traditions with Burt Wolf is broadcast to 90% of homes in the US and is syndicated to an international audience of more than 100 million. To watch The Hospital of the Future, check your local listings or view immediately at www.gaylord.org/tv.

About Gaylord Specialty Healthcare:

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare is a rehabilitation-focused, nonprofit health system that provides inpatient and outpatient care for people at every point in their journey from illness or injury to maximum recovery. Gaylord's Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation is a hub for accelerating world-class rehabilitative research, technology development and innovation to improve the quality of life and function of people around the world. The newly launched residency program in physiatry will educate the next generation of rehabilitation doctors in Connecticut and beyond. Together, these entities deliver a complete continuum of rehabilitative care driven by clinical experience, innovation and human compassion.

SOURCE Gaylord Specialty Healthcare