Bridgeport Hospital is the first Connecticut facility to be STAR Program® Certified
Bridgeport Hospital’s Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute & Ahlbin Rehabilitation Centers, First In Connecticut to Receive STAR Program® Certification, Offer Top-rate Cancer Rehab Services To Improve Long-term Health of Survivors
The Norma F. Pfriem Cancer Institute and Ahlbin Rehabilitation Centers, with an acute care inpatient facility and numerous outpatient locations, has announced the launch of the Sandie Taubin STAR Program®, a state-of-the-art cancer rehabilitation program that will help survivors recover from the side effects and aftereffects of treatments.
Bridgeport Hospital is the first healthcare facility in the state of Connecticut to become STAR Program certified, thanks to a generous gift from Howard Taubin, MD, in memory of his wife, Sandie.
STAR Program Certification is an offering of the Massachusetts-based healthcare company Oncology Rehab Partners, and it provides hospitals and cancer centers with the tools needed (training for clinical staff and evaluation and treatment protocols) to quickly and effectively implement evidence-based cancer rehabilitation services for survivors suffering from post-treatment symptoms such as pain, fatigue, weakness, and emotional distress.
Oncology Rehab Partners’ founder Julie Silver, MD, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and herself a cancer survivor, said, “By being the first healthcare facility in Connecticut to receive the STAR Program Certification, Bridgeport Hospital
has raised the bar on survivorship care in the state and validated cancer rehabilitation as a critical component of the recovery process. The Sandie Taubin STAR Program will help cancer survivors heal optimally so they can get back to their families and their jobs.”
All of the services offered by the Sandie Taubin STAR Program® are covered by health insurance and are designed to rehabilitate survivors of all forms and stages of cancer. The program uses a multidisciplinary clinical approach, whereby a team of experts—rehabilitation medicine physicians, physical and occupational therapists, speech pathologists, dieticians, medical social workers, and nurse practitioners—works with each patient on a personalized rehabilitation plan to increase strength and energy, alleviate pain, and improve daily function and well-being.
“The Sandie Taubin STAR Program has affirmed our ability as caregivers to provide the very best therapy to cancer survivors,” says Ahlbin Centers Physical Therapy Supervisor Vikki Winks, one of 17 Bridgeport Hospital staff members to complete individual STAR Program Certification training. “We are committed to helping our patients recover as fully as possible after treatments and to achieve a better quality of life.”
