Golisano Rehabilitation Center Recognized with Gold-Level Beacon Award for Excellence

Granted by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the national Beacon Award recognizes exceptional patient care and a healthy work environment.

Oct. 9, 2023 • 3 min read

A photo taken from a drone of Unity Hospital with a blue sky

Rochester, NY – Rochester Regional Health is proud to announce that the Golisano Restorative Neurology & Rehabilitation Center at Unity Hospital has been awarded one of the health care industry’s highest honors: a Gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).

Golisano Restorative Neurology & Rehabilitation Center is the only inpatient rehabilitation unit in the entire country to have earned the Gold Beacon distinction.

“Our Golisano Restorative Neurology & Rehabilitation Center is an exceptional resource for patients in the Greater Rochester region and beyond,” said Richard “Chip” Davis, PhD, CEO of Rochester Regional Health. “No other rehabilitation facility in New York – and very few in the country – offers such a broad range of expert services for children, adolescents, and adults. We’re proud that the AACN has spotlighted our quality with its highest-level award.”

The AACN Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes healthcare units devoted to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments. Established in 1989, the Golisano Restorative Neurology & Rehabilitation Center provides a complete range of services for patients with neurological, orthopaedic, and complex medical conditions ranging from traumatic brain injury to stroke, spinal-cord injury, heart failure, neuromuscular disease, and neurological disease. For over 20 years, the center has been accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for Comprehensive Integrated Inpatient Rehabilitation, Brain Injury, and Stroke.

Within weeks of receiving the news about the Beacon Award, Unity Hospital also learned that its New York State-certified Primary Stroke Center was recertified with flying colors—no deficiencies noted—by the DNV accreditation agency.

“Having both the Golisano Restorative Neurology & Rehabilitation Center and the Stroke Center at Unity Hospital provides an extraordinary continuum of care—from rapid diagnosis and treatment in the Emergency Department all the way through outpatient rehabilitation,” CEO Davis said.