(Baltimore, MD-February 10, 2009) The Maryland General Hospital Rehabilitation Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This latest accreditation is the sixth consecutive Three-Year Accreditation that CARF has awarded to Maryland General's Rehabilitation Center.

Accreditation from CARF represents the highest level of accreditation that can be awarded to an organization and shows Maryland General's substantial conformance to the CARF standards, which include General Inpatient Rehabilitation Program - Hospital (Adults), Inpatient Rehabilitation Program - Hospital: Brain Injury Program (Adults), Inpatient Rehabilitation Program - Hospital: Stroke Specialty Program (Adults), and Medical Rehabilitation Case Management (Adults). An organization receiving a Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are of the highest quality, measurable and accountable.

During the review process, the CARF surveyors made no recommendations for improvement at Maryland General's Rehabilitation Center, indicating that the team did not identify any areas of nonconformance to the standards. "Receiving accreditation with no recommendations for improvement is an extraordinary accomplishment," said Deb Youngquist, Program Director of the Rehabilitation Center at Maryland General Hospital. "Only three percent of CARF surveys in the United States, Europe and Canada result in no recommendations."

The Rehabilitation Center at Maryland General Hospital is one of the leading programs in the area, providing inpatient acute care to persons with traumatic brain injury, stroke and other neurological conditions, multiple trauma, amputations and orthopaedic conditions such as joint replacement or fractures. Outpatient services include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and the "Just for Kids" program, which specializes in cognitive and physical rehabilitation for children from birth to 18 years of age.

"We are extremely proud to receive another three-year term of accreditation from CARF and of the care we provide patients at the Rehabilitation Center," said Sylvia Smith Johnson, CEO of Maryland General Hospital. "Our comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to care allows our patients to focus on the skills needed for a successful recovery."

CARF is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.

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