Rehabilitation for Improved Quality of Life

At Catholic Health, our goal is to empower patients to rebuild their lives after sustaining a brain injury. We provide rehabilitation for patients who have experienced:

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). A brain injury resulting from an external force.
  • Non-traumatic brain injury. An acquired brain injury resulting from a brain tumor, lack of oxygen or toxic exposure.

St. Charles Hospital (Port Jefferson, NY) gives patients access to a team of rehabilitation experts and the latest, most advanced therapies for brain injuries. The hospital is the only Long Island hospital accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient medical rehabilitation for adults and children.

Our Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program

Since every brain injury is unique, our dedicated and compassionate team creates customized treatment plans for the best possible outcomes. We work closely with patients to improve their ability to eat, think, move, walk, talk and care for themselves. Patients are encouraged and motivated to regain their strength and rebuild their confidence to manage physical and cognitive challenges.

    Adults who have experienced a stroke are treated in our stroke rehabilitation program. Children and adolescents who have sustained a brain injury or stroke are treated in our pediatric rehabilitation program.

    Occupational Therapy. Our occupational therapists use tools like the Bioness Integrated Therapy System to improve cognition and brain function. The system measures a patient's cognition and assigns customized challenges to retrain the brain.

    Physical Therapy. Physical therapists help patients retrain their bodies to move. For gait (walking) therapy, body-weight supporting technologies may be used. Therapy sessions occur at least three hours a day, five days a week.

    Speech/Swallowing Therapy. Our speech therapists use tools like VitalStim to develop speech and throat control. Research shows that electrical stimulation of nerves and muscles helps to relieve the emotional and physical burdens of feeding tubes to allow a more normal diet.

    “Waking” Patients. Our board-certified brain injury specialty physicians use FDA-approved medications to help patients who are minimally responsive. These medications enable patients to wake up and participate more fully in their therapy.

    Immersive therapy at Downtown St. Charles. The first and only rehabilitation module of its kind on Long Island. Simulates a typical home and downtown community setting to help brain injury patients practice real-world adaptive skills while still in the hospital.

    Complimentary treatments. Acupuncture and pain management are offered for use in conjunction with traditional medicine.

    Recreational therapy offers stimulating activities—cognitive, physical, intellectual, creative and social—that patients enjoy.

    Music therapy, provided by a board-certified music therapist, helps to improve a patient's mood as well as enhance motor, communication and cognitive functioning. 

    Psychology/Neuropsychology. Neuropsychology is a process we use to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior. It can be used to diagnose a brain disorder and design an effective treatment.

    Our brain injury rehabilitation care team includes:

    • Board-certified physiatrists (physicians who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation)
    • Certified rehabilitation registered nurses
    • Rehabilitation therapists (occupational, physical, recreational, respiratory, speech/swallowing)

    Related Services

    Brain Injury Rehabilitation Location

    St Charles Hospital

    St. Charles Hospital

    Port Jefferson, NY