In a recent news release, the Amputee Coalition announced that St Lawrence Rehabilitation Center in Lawrenceville, NJ, has signed a peer support affiliation agreement with the Coalition. The release states that St Lawrence Rehabilitation Center is now one of 14 facilities in the United States that have joined the Coalition in this initiative.

The release notes that St Lawrence Rehabilitation Center will work off of Coalition guidelines and materials for peer visitation, and will also have an official trainer on staff to train peer visitors. The Coalition will assist in integrating the program and staff training at the facility.

Kevin McGuigan, MD, medical director, St Lawrence, notes in the current release, “Our affiliation with the Amputee Coalition will help us provide that support to our patients and families who deal with amputations. We are very pleased to partner with such a well-known and established organization.”

St Lawrence Rehabilitation Center is a 166-bed, fully accredited, private, nonprofit, physical rehabilitation hospital. It provides a variety of rehabilitation services and programs on both an inpatient and outpatient basis, including brain injury rehabilitation, dysphagia therapy, driver and vestibular rehabilitation, wheelchair seating clinic, and prosthetics and orthotics.

Sue Stout, interim president and CEO, Amputee Coalition, notes that the peer visitor program is designed to address the questions and concerns new amputees and their caregivers have, adding, “With facilities like St Lawrence Rehabilitation Center partnering with us to do what is best for the patient and bring this initiative directly to the patient and their family, it gives them the best possible outcome.”

[Source: Amputee Coalition]