Spinal Cord Injury Medicine & Rehabilitation

Physical Therapist Helping a Women Walk in a Therapy Gym

If you or a loved one experiences a spinal cord injury, trust Burke Rehabilitation to restore your abilities as much as possible and prevent complications. We offer inpatient and outpatient services to help optimize your recovery at every stage.

CARF Certified Spinal Cord Specialty Programs

Burke Rehabilitation inpatient and outpatient spinal cord specialty programs hold CARF accreditation. You can expect to receive the highest-quality, innovative care from our compassionate staff.

For additional information about the program, please refer to the program description. [pdf]

Benefits of Spinal Cord Injury Program

Spinal cord injury (SPI) rehabilitation helps you improve your quality of life following a spinal cord injury. Burke’s program can:

  • Help you meet your goals and ongoing needs
  • Improve your overall health and function
  • Increase your level of independence
  • Provide emotional support and education

Conditions We Treat

Trust the Burke spinal cord injury experts to diagnose and treat:

  • Traumatic spinal cord injuries
  • Myelopathies
  • Spinal cord tumors
  • Spinal cord or vertebral infections
  • Transverse myelitis
  • Guillain-Barre syndrome
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Spinal cord infarctions and aneurysms

SCI Care Team

Your Burke Rehabilitation Hospital care team puts you at the center of goal setting and treatment. Team members meet weekly to discuss how you’re doing and adjust your personalized care plan, so you make steady progress. Team members may include:

  • Spinal cord injury doctor and other specialty doctors
  • Neurologic music therapist
  • Neuropsychologist
  • Nurses
  • Occupational therapist
  • Physical therapist
  • Recreational therapist
  • Respiratory therapist
  • Social worker/case manager
  • Speech-language pathologist

Get Better at Burke

Maximize your recovery with Burke Rehabilitation services:

Unsure what type of care you need?

Request a Callback

Take Control Back: Bowel and Bladder Peer Support Video

Taking Back Control:

Caregiver Education Series on Neurogenic Bowel and Bladder Management After SCI.

Play YouTube Video

Nutrition Therapy in Bowel and Bladder Management for SCI Patients
Patricia Coar, MPH, RD, CDN, CDE

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The Role of the Caregiver
Marlena Orme, LCSW

Play YouTube Video

Neurogenic Bowel Management After Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
Siobhan McKenna OTR/L

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Neurogenic Bowel in Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Jennie Valles, MD

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Neurogenic Bladder in Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Shelly Hsieh, MD

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Neurogenic Bladder Management After SCI  
Elizabeth Rider, OTR/L

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Taking Control Back - Coping and Adjustment to Change After Spinal Cord Injury Jaime Twaite, Ph D

Play YouTube Video

Taking Control Back - Catheterization Techniques for Male SCI Patients DJ Talabi

Play YouTube Video

Taking Control Back - Catheterization Techniques for Female SCI Patients Loriann O’Brien, MSN, RN, CRRN

This series is possible through funding from the Craig H Neilsen Foundation Creating Opportunity & Independence grant funding (Grant Cycle October 2021-September 2023).

Related Locations

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Related Providers

Your Burke Rehab Journey

Receive compassionate nursing and medical care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You’ll benefit from:

  • Medical and functional evaluation
  • Goal setting and a recovery plan unique to your needs
  • Daily therapy sessions averaging three hours per day
  • Opportunities to participate in additional therapeutic activities
  • Education and support for you and your loved ones
  • Family and caregiver support
  • Discharge planning to help you prepare for life after inpatient rehabilitation

Learn what you can expect at Burke Rehabilitation—from the time you arrive to when you are discharged:

For information on admissions, call our screening department at (914) 597-2800.

View our outcomes report to see more information about our spinal care injury care.

Outpatient Physician Care

The Burke Rehabilitation Outpatient Physician Practice is a team of physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors dedicated to providing the most advanced, personalized care for individuals with neurological, musculoskeletal, and orthopedic conditions. You’ll receive a custom treatment plan to meet your needs. It may include:

  • Electrodiagnostic Testing – Looks at how well your muscles and nerves work
  • Intrathecal Baclofen Pump – Reduces spasticity so that you can move more easily
  • Muscle Tone Management Injections – Injections help manage arm muscle tone and spasticity and recover the functional use of your arms and hands.
  • Nerve Blocks – Stop nerves from sending pain signals to certain body areas using an anesthetic or anti-inflammatory medicine
  • Spasticity Clinic – Helps you regain muscle control so you can do more of your daily activities

Outpatient Therapy Care 

To continue your recovery, your doctor may prescribe one or more outpatient therapies after you return home from the hospital.

Continue building strength following an inpatient rehabilitation stay at one of our convenient outpatient locations in Westchester, the Hudson Valley, or the Bronx.

Outpatient Rehabilitation Services

  • Alternative & Augmentative Communication (AAC) - Burke’s speech-language pathologists can assist you in establishing your candidacy for compensatory communication methods, from “low-tech” communication boards and index cards to “high-tech” speech-generating AAC devices.

  • Functional Electric Stimulation - Large muscle functional electrical stimulation helps people with neurologic impairments, paralysis, and movement problems move their legs and arms, improve walking ability, and maintain muscle strength and tone.

  • Gait (Walking) Rehabilitation - Burke physical therapists may use gait and locomotor training for your therapy regimen. This includes body weight support systems over the ground, such as the Vector, and on the treadmill, as well as wearable devices that help you coordinate muscle movement.

  • Muscle Tone Management Injections - Injections help manage arm muscle tone and spasticity and recover the functional use of your arms and hands.

  • Social Services - Burke’s licensed clinical social worker connects you to resources and helps you navigate insurance and applications for charity care, housing, and more.

  • Swallowing Evaluations & Treatment - Burke’s speech-language pathologists will assess your ability to chew and swallow foods and liquids via clinical exams and tests and recommend swallowing treatment as needed.

  • Upper Limb Recovery & Training - Burke’s occupational therapists help you regain arm and hand function. We offer customized treatment using the latest research and technologies, including electrical stimulation programs and devices. 

  • Vision Rehabilitation - Burke’s specially trained occupational therapists can provide strategies and exercises to lessen visual or perceptual challenges caused by neurological problems.

  • Wheelchair Clinic - Burke’s certified assistive technology practitioner provides extensive wheelchair seating and positioning evaluations.

  • Accepted Insurance

    Burke accepts many insurance plans. Check with your insurance carrier to learn what’s covered under your plan. Get answers to your questions about insurance by calling (914) 597-2131, option 8.


    List of Accepted Insurance

  • Community Programs

    Take advantage of the many resources available through Burke, like:

    • Burke Everything Else Education Program (BEEEP) - Includes seminar education on navigating life while living with a spinal cord injury
    • Community events – Take place annually and throughout the year
    • Neurological Exercise Program – Helps you meet your exercise, health, and wellness goals 
    • SCI Support Group – Meets virtually for survivors and caregivers
    • Take Back Control Program – Helps people in the hospital manage neurogenic bowel and bladder control to live a fulfilling and active life confidently.