Living Life to the Fullest
Gaylord Hospital helps patients recover from traumatic injuries and live fulfilling lives.
Gaylord Hospital helps patients of all ages recover from accidents, injuries and chronic pain. The patients who come to the acute long-term care hospital have medically complex injuries such as spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries.
Recent grants from The Community Foundation are supporting Gaylord’s delivery of care to patients at various points along the recovery spectrum.
A multi-year grant from 2018-20 helped the hospital renovate patient rooms and wings. The new rooms include updated amenities, special equipment, and comforts like reclining chairs. The renovations also improved working spaces for staff and increased the computer terminals for medical record keeping.
The grant was made possible by donor funds at The Foundation including - the Anne Hope Bennett Fund, the Apsel and Seymour and Clara Gans Memorial Fund, and the Estelle A. Johnson Fund.
In March 2022, two Foundation grants to visual impairment programs at Gaylord were made possible by the Jennie C. Bronson Fund. One grant helped fund a three-year research study to determine the effect of peripheral vision loss on balance in patients with concussions.
Gaylord’s Milne Institute for Healthcare Innovation and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) are collaborating to develop the three-phase study, which has the ultimate goal of informing effective treatment techniques.
The second grant is for the purchase of equipment for the Vision Clinic and the Sports Association, and to subsidize transportation costs for Sport Association participants.
“These grants will not only improve quality of life for the individuals we serve with visual impairments and blindness but will also have a far-reaching impact by creating best practices for this population,” said Roslyn Gilhuly, Associate Vice President, Development Operations & Campaign Initiatives. “Their gift validates our work of healing the human body, restoring function and inspiring longevity.”
Gaylord’s adaptive sports program is renowned, drawing people with physical disabilities from all over New England. It offers equipment for more than a dozen games and activities including rugby, waterskiing, rock climbing and golf. The hospital also has a garage filled with adaptive bicycles and other equipment, and even runs a para-triathlon team.
"We're all about living life to the fullest extent possible," said Tara Knapp, Vice President, External Affairs.
Set on a 500-acre campus in Wallingford, Gaylord Hospital was founded in 1902 as a tuberculosis sanatorium by the New Haven County Anti-Tuberculosis Association. After medical advances helped curb tuberculosis in the 20th century, Gaylord turned its expertise to other forms of rehabilitation.
For more information, visit Gaylord Hospital's giveGreater profile.
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