KU News Release

New partnership creates professorship for geriatric rehabilitation and health care

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Allied Health is taking steps to remedy not only the shortage of geriatric therapists but also the many health care issues elderly patients face.

The school has partnered with RehabCare to create a professorship to teach geriatric rehabilitation at the KU Medical Center. The person holding the professorship also will spend significant time in Washington, D.C., advocating for health care policy reform and consulting on the state and national level.

RehabCare, based in St. Louis, provided a $250,000 gift to establish the professorship. RehabCare is a leading provider of physical rehabilitation program management services in about 1,250 hospitals, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities throughout the United States.

“In general, our care of elders is insufficient and too expensive. People use up their life savings to pay for care in a nursing home,” said Lisa Stehno-Bittel, chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. “If we’re going to address the problems with the system, we have to make sure that there are enough people trained to help them. With the baby boomer generation aging, an adequate workforce becomes especially critical.”

Barbara Wallace, assistant vice president of campus relations for RehabCare, said worker shortage was the most serious issue the company faces.

“One of our biggest challenges is to have enough therapists to treat patients,” Wallace said. “Our company has over 800 full-time positions open.”

RehabCare had many Midwestern suitors for its funds, but the combination of strong clinical, research and public programs at KU made this school an ideal partner, Wallace said.

“The reputation of the university and the large number of alumni we’ve employed made this partnership attractive to us,” Wallace said. “We liked what they had to offer.”

Stehno-Bittel said KU was the only school that presented a concept of pairing an instructor with a policymaker.

“Most physical therapy departments focus on research concerning clinical care. We have an accompanying basic science component that most departments do not have,” Stehno-Bittel said. “When you combine that dual research focus with strong public health policy expertise, it makes KU unique.”

A nationwide search for candidates is under way.

The fund will be managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.