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Institut Guttmann is organized upon a competent, united team working to achieve the institution’s goals. This team acts in a responsible, coordinated and efficient way to carry out its various health care, scientific and community-based tasks.
The organizational structure is decided by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, This is the top standing and governing body. It decides on strategic objectives, monitors that the institution works efficiently and approves the annual budgets and accounts.
The Managing Director, is directly accountable to the Board. He/she is the Foundation’s legal Chief Executive. The Foundation is headed by the Board of Directors, which is the highest managing body. The Board is made up of the various Department Directors who are responsible for each one of the various operational, logistic and administrative departments of the organization.
THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
This department is responsible for managing and coordinating customized neurorehabilitation programmes. It is in charge of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating hospital patients either medically or surgically.
The department is made up of a team of doctors specialized in physical medicine and rehabilitation. They are supported by doctors specialized in other areas (neurology, internal medicine, urology, traumatology, etc.). All doctors are experts in treating the pathologies dealt with in this hospital. A team of medical consultants provides all the medical and surgical specialty care required to complete diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for the patients.
The tasks of the medical department are carried out in three clinical units:
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The spinal injury unit, where patients with complete or partial spinal cord injuries (caused by a trauma, a medical reason or a congenital problem such as spina bifida) are treated. This unit also treats people with non-spinal pathologies involving a severe physical disability but no impairment of cognitive functions. |
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The brain injury unit, treats patients with functional disorders (whether physical, cognitive or behavioural) from an acquired brain injury, brain trauma, a tumour and a vascular or a neurodegenerative disease. This unit also treats adult patients with infantile cerebral palsy. |
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The functional unit for child rehabilitation takes care of children up to the age of 14 with severe neurological disabilities. Treatment is given regardless of the original causes of the disability, which may be CCT (craniocerebral trauma), SCI (spinal cord injury), CP (cerebral palsy), progressive diseases, congenital malformations, etc. |
THE NURSING DEPARTMENT
On top of its statutory nursing tasks, it is responsible for watching over the patient and his/her family’s rehabilitation goals. It ensures that all the required knowledge and skills are in place to achieve such goals and to help the patient to run a life as independent, healthy and satisfactory as possible.
This department is also responsible for teaching the patients hygiene habits and other techniques and skills for their personal care and complication prevention. It also teaches them to the patient’s family or those eventually caring for the patient.
Nurses and clinical assistants establish a substantial supportive relationship with the patients. They immediately size the patient’s progress and mood and keep a permanent hot line open with the patient’s family or next ones.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL DEPARTMENT
This department is mainly made up of clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists and social workers. Its goals are treating the patient’s emotional, psychological and social aspects. These staff members’ input into the rehabilitation team is essential for developing a comprehensive care plan as requested by this type of pathologies.
Psychologists are responsible for evaluating, guiding and monitoring psychotherapy-related aspects of neurorehabilitation. They are also responsible for giving emotional support to both patients and families. This department offers monitoring and care for individuals, families and communities.
Neurophysiologists are focused on diagnosing and treating changes in cognition and behaviour after brain damage. Their tasks do not just lie with the patient: they also provide guidance, individual care and emotional support for the patient’s family.
Social workers provide guidance and career support in patients’ social and family issues so that they accept their disability. Their job is encouraging the patients to eventually go back into community.
The staff members within the psychological and social department lead the in-hospital socialization activities carried out in the organization. They are also in charge of activities stimulating and facilitating community relations. To boost these initiatives, they rely on the valuable help of severally disabled, long term residents of the hospital and volunteers.
THE FUNCTIONAL REHABILITATION DEPARTMENT
The functional rehabilitation team is made up of physio and occupational therapists, physical education teachers and clinical assistants. It is responsible for developing all the rehabilitation activities set out in the Care Plan. The rehabilitation team follows this plan, tailored to each individual’s special characteristics and circumstances.
Both inpatients (hospitalised because of their health or injury status) and outpatients get a work plan taking five hours of the day, from Monday to Friday and on Saturday mornings. This plan includes a list of exercise and care activities designed to promote the patients’ independence and to improve their physical status. Such activities help them to keep in shape further down the line.
The hospital has a large, innovative and impressive range of opportunities and facilities for group and individual therapeutic activities, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, various walking re-education programmes (two of the main ones are “Intensive Gait Training” and “Lokomat”), hydrotherapy, electromedicine, hand training, muscle stimulation, daily-life tasks training, therapy with animals, sensory stimulation, cognition reinforcement sessions, monitored outings outdoors, aerobics, initiation into various adapted and inclusive sports, getting the feel of prostheses, training in technical aids, introduction to computing, etc.
Children have their own specific children’s neurorehabilitation programme, as rich as the adults’ and carried out daily from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. to fit children’s school timing.
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