ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A local rehabilitation center is giving its employees a chance to bring new ideas to the table with a series of grants.
Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Networkrecently awarded the second cycle of its Innovation Grantsprogram. The funding helps bring to life the ideas of those who work for the company.
“We provide them mentorship and support for them to really kind of engage with that idea, test that idea, with the goal of ultimately improving the care that we provide, the communities we serve and the clinicians and the employees that work here in the organization," said Emily Lyter, administrative director of Good Shepherd Learns, Creates and Research.
"So that we can really transform rehabilitation care.”
Two types of grants were given this time around: the Introduction of the Learn Grant and the Academic Partnerships. Of 20 submissions, eight were chosen for the funding.
“We were beyond impressed with the number of applicants and ideas we received during the first cycle,” Good Shepherd Rehabilitation President Michael Spigel said. “The best ideas truly come from those who are in patient care and provide for patients every day, whether it’s clinical or non-clinical support.”
Those projects span a variety of topics, including a program that can let people who have had spinal cord injuries learn skills and get back to life after they have completed their rehab course of care. Another program addresses the issue of dizziness. Other projects focus on the research of a specific topic.
The grants are offered as a way to empower employees. Lyter said they are the people working closest to the patients and to the communities.
“They come up with these amazing ideas and if they don't have an opportunity to pursue those ideas, those ideas kind of go to waste,” she said. “It's really kind of our responsibility as a rehab organization to provide an opportunity that those ideas can change, practice and make a meaningful impact to individuals living with disability or recovering from an injury.”
The Good Shepherd Innovation Grants program started in 2021. The next round of grants will be given out in early 2023.
