PORTLAND, Maine - New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland recently received the President's Circle Award during HealthSouth's Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet in Colorado Springs, Colo.

New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland is one of only 11 hospitals in HealthSouth's nationwide network of more than 90 rehabilitation hospitals to receive the prestigious award. The award recognizes outstanding performance in development of clinical programs, quality of patient care services, and overall operational excellence.

"Being honored with the President's Circle Award is recognition for our commitment to high-quality, cost effective health care," said Amy Morse, chief executive officer of New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland. "Working together as a team, our staff has demonstrated a genuine concern for our patients' satisfaction by always trying to provide whatever it takes for a successful outcome. I applaud our staff and take great pride in accepting this award on behalf of our physicians, nursing staff, therapists, and all of the hospital staff."

In addition, NERHP, a joint venture between Maine Medical Center and HealthSouth, was recertified as a Stroke Rehabilitation Center of Excellence. The Stroke Rehabilitation Center of Excellence internal recognition program highlights the accomplishments of HealthSouth hospitals that have exceeded established benchmarks in clinical programming and patient outcomes for the treatment of stroke.

"Experience in working with stroke patients is critical to achieving excellent patient outcomes," says Morse. "The side-effects from stroke are not always visible; many times they are cognitive resulting in behavioral changes, which make it hard for family members to cope."

HealthSouth Stroke Rehabilitation Center of Excellence programs employ treatment teams of specially trained clinicians in the areas of physical, occupational and speech therapies, in addition to rehabilitation nursing. NERHP stroke teams meet with the patient and family to obtain input for the plan of care. They provide discharge planning and continuing education initiatives to stroke patients in the form of vocational and community re-entry education, transitional living, home evaluations and therapeutic home visits. Stroke support groups are also available to patients and families.

New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland is a 90-bed inpatient hospital that provides a higher level of rehabilitative care to patients who are recovering from stroke and other neurological disorders, brain and spinal cord injury, amputations and orthopedic, cardiac and pulmonary conditions. Accredited by The Joint Commission, the hospital is located at 335 Brighton Ave. and on the Web at www.nerhp.org.

HealthSouth is the nation's largest provider of inpatient rehabilitative services. Operating in 26 states across the country and in Puerto Rico, HealthSouth serves more than 250,000 patients annually through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation satellites, and home health agencies. HealthSouth strives to be the nation's preeminent provider of inpatient rehabilitation services and can be found on the Web at www.healthsouth.com.