(February 2021) A new era of rehabilitative care has dawned with the opening of the state-of-the-art Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at UHealth/Jackson Memorial, dedicated to providing the best possible outcomes to patients. The stunning 250,000-square-foot, nine-story structure on the Jackson Memorial Medical Campus houses 80 inpatient beds and features world-class amenities and next-generation rehabilitative technology.
Designed to be one of the country’s elite facilities for patients recovering from spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, cancer treatment, and other complex conditions, the center was named in recognition of Christine E. Lynn of Boca Raton, a former nurse and prominent businesswoman and philanthropist who contributed $25 million toward the new facility.
Every aspect of the facility underscores a focus on comprehensive care. The building’s layout ensures that clinical care and research share space, so that patients and families see the scientists who are developing treatments, and researchers interact with real people who need the results of their work—a constant reminder of the way Lynn Rehabilitation Center integrates academic study with the day-to-day treatment of patients.
The family-centered design includes a sunny, light filled aquatic center, with two therapy pools and an underwater treadmill, a café, and extensive public art installations. There are separate gyms for inpatient and outpatient therapy, pediatrics, and individual specialty care. Patients are able to practice real-world mobility, as the center includes airplane seats, driving simulators, and a full-size car.
Private inpatient rooms are located on the top three floors of the tower. Other floors accommodate medical treatment rooms, two transitional apartments, a meditation space, staff offices, classrooms for residents and fellows, conference and collaboration spaces, and The Miami Project’s clinical research laboratories.
In addition to a basketball court and barbecue grill, the outdoor activity garden features a sculpture by world renowned artist Olaf Breuning that incorporates interactive knobs, wheels, steps, and pedals to help patients regain fine and gross motor skills. A third-floor outdoor terrace resembles a tranquil park, with areas for walking and sitting.
Barth A. Green, M.D., co-founder and chairman of The Miami Project and the Ralph C. Wilson Chair in Neurosurgery, was enthusiastic about the new center’s future. “Lynn Rehabilitation Center not only represents a new beacon of hope for these very special patients and their families, but most important, is a unique facility where cutting-edge scientific and engineering knowledge is being translated into clinical care in real time, to the direct benefit of even the most complex and compromised patients,” he said.
Part of Jackson Health System, Lynn Rehabilitation Center boasts a multidisciplinary team of Jackson nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals working with physicians and scientists from the University of Miami Health System to produce optimized functional outcomes. This exciting integration of clinical and research entities under one roof will help accelerate the development of new therapies and interventions for the many people dealing with complex neurotrauma events.