Shepherd Center to Build $16 Million Residence Center

February 8, 2007

Contact: Larry Bowie (404-350-7708)

ATLANTA - Shepherd Center announced plans today to build a $16 million residential center adjacent to the hospital that will provide temporary housing for families of patients so they can be near their loved one during rehabilitation.

The new 87,000-square-foot facility will include 84 wheelchair accessible suites, each containing a bedroom, living space, kitchenette and bathroom. In addition, it will include a large family activities room, a community lounge with a place for children to play, and classroom space to hold caregiver training classes for family members.

The facility, to be named the “Irene and George Woodruff Family Residence Center,” is expected to open in early 2008.

The need for family housing has arisen in the last several years as Shepherd Center's national reputation for superior care has grown. Last year nearly 300 patients who live outside the state of Georgia, and their families, traveled to Shepherd Center to seek treatment for spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. Keeping families nearby is a critical component of patient care.

“Not only do families provide emotional support and encouragement to their loved ones, but they must also be nearby to participate in patient-care training where they learn important aregiver skills that make the transition from hospital to home much easier,” said Gary Ulicny, Ph.D., President and CEO of Shepherd Center.

In addition to housing families of patients, the facility will accommodate patients returning for outpatient services, as well as visiting physicians and researchers.

The Irene and George Woodruff Family Residence Center will be located to the north of Shepherd Center, in the area behind the former Hawthorn Suites Hotel that faces Peachtree Road. Shepherd bought the hotel in 2005 with an intention to renovate and convert the building to family housing suites. However, subsequent renovation estimates were of such magnitude that the hospital elected to build a separate housing facility in the parking lot behind the building.

The announcement comes as Shepherd Center nears completion of a $53 million expansion project that will nearly double the size of the hospital. Among other things, the expansion will provide 20 new beds, additional therapy gyms and treatment rooms, a new cafeteria and dining facility, additional office space, and more clinical facilities to expand and centralize Shepherd Center's outpatient services area in order to make them more accessible to patients and families.

Currently Shepherd Center owns 25 apartments in residential areas near Peachtree Road and allows families of patients who live more than 60 miles outside Atlanta to live free of charge for up to 30 days, thanks to donations generated each year from the community. The new facility will allow Shepherd Center to consolidate its housing program and add an additional 84 units next door to the hospital.

“Shepherd Center is known for providing temporary and free housing for families,” Ulicny said. “When we remove the family’s concern about where they will stay in the city and how much it might cost, it allows them to stay focused on the real reason we are all here – to dramatically improve the life of their loved one.”

About Shepherd Center
Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit hospital devoted to the medical care and rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injury and disease, acquired brain injury, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular problems. Each year Shepherd Center admits more than 700 patients and conducts thousands of outpatient clinic visits. For more information, visit Shepherd Center online at www.shepherd.org.