HISTORY
Eisenhower Center opened its doors in June of 1993 to provide post-acute, residential, rehabilitation services to individuals with traumatic brain injuries. We started out with one client in 1993 and have since grown to accommodate more than 120. In 1995, we restructured our program into three distinct programs - the Sustained Care program, the Transitional program, and the Apartment program. Dr. J. Stuart Phillips, our founder and CEO, wanted to ensure the best possible continuum of care for his clients. His purpose for restructuring into separate programs was "...to enable the staff to become more familiar with the specific treatment issues for each client and for the staff and clients to form a more effective working relationship...to enable the program coordinator to manage the staff who provide day-to-day assistance to clients...to give clients, families, case managers, and funders one point of contact for all communication."
In 1995, the EC Advisory Board was formed for the purpose of getting external feedback from medical professionals, case managers, client family members, and funders on how to improve Eisenhower Center's clinical, management, and administrative operations. The biannual EC Advisory Board meetings have continued over the past 14 years.
In January of 1996, Eisenhower Center renamed its programs to differentiate the programs from the services. The former Sustained Care program was renamed the South Main program. The lower-level Transitional program was renamed the Congregate program. The building in which they are located was renamed South Hall. The program building was renamed North Hall, and in the spring of 1996, the North Main program and administrative offices and therapy rooms on the lower level opened. The North Main program contained a special unit called the Neurobehavioral Unit in the west wing of North Hall. As with substance abuse prevention services, more emphasis was placed on behavioral analysis as a key and fundamental service in the TBI rehab process. It is now an extremely specialized area of expertise at Eisenhower Center.
In 1999, Eisenhower Center developed the East Hall program to act as a bridge between the care needed in the other units on campus and the independence of the Supported Apartment program. It is made up of 16 suites but still has the high level of staff support needed by many of our clients.
Also in 1999, after several years of research, Dr. Phillips, CEO, introduced the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) to help attract and maintain highly motivated and educated employees. This incredible benefit for the employees has led to our exceptionally low level of turnover in the industry.
Many of those who have sustained brain injuries have been involved in accidents as a result of drug and alcohol use. Steps to focus on this related area of rehab initially began in 1995 with the introduction of the Drug and Alcohol Awareness Program. Our Substance Abuse Prevention Program and the clinical team member who initiated it in 2005 have been highly commended by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) team.
In 2008, Moriah Hall was opened, not only to accommodate more clients in need, but to provide more state-of-the-art therapy space and equipment for their treatment. Dr. Phillips named Moriah Hall, which means, "God will provide."
In December of 2008, Dr. Phillips stepped down from his position as Chairman of Eisenhower Center and sold the remaining portion of his stock back to the company. Eisenhower Center officially became 100% employee owned. A new board of directors was formed from current employees, and the governance of the company has continued to advance the company and its services into the future. Since 2009 Eisenhower Center continues to be the only facility of its kind to offer the ESOP benefit to its staff.
In 2010 the day treatment program was started at our main facility in Ann Arbor and a farm was purchased in Manchester, MI. The farm is currently undergoing renovations to support the enrichment program as well as a group home and is scheduled to open in May of 2011.