When Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital medical staff conducts research, it’s not only for the future benefit of science and medicine. Our staff is dedicated to enhancing patient treatment and services.
The research efforts of our doctors, therapists and nurses often lead to discoveries with a timely and positive impact for our patients. Research is done with the conviction it will help restore hope and freedom for children and adults with physical disabilities.
Mary Free Bed has created an infrastructure to support our physicians and staff with their research endeavors and facilitate scholarly activity. Our efforts include original research and participation in multicenter studies and sponsored clinical trials.
A Snapshot of What We’re Doing
Twenty ongoing research projects are currently embedded at Mary Free Bed, involving 34 active researchers and 15 hospital service lines. Hundreds of patients and staff are impacted, including:
- Inpatient rehabilitation – stroke, brain injury, oncology
- Outpatient rehabilitation – spinal cord injury, oncology, pediatrics, orthopedics, post-concussion, spine, psychology
- Orthotics & Prosthetics + Bionics – infant orthotics, pediatric and adult prosthetics
- Wheelchair & Adaptive Sports, recreational therapy
Mary Free Bed often collaborates with other highly-respected institutions – from universities to healthcare organizations – with the common goal of improving patient lives.
About Mary Free Bed Research and Innovation
In conjunction with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, we enhanced our commitment to research and education when we created the John F. Butzer Center for Research and Innovation in 2014. Dr. Butzer, who served as Mary Free Bed’s chief medical officer for 29 years, leads the endeavor. In addition, Dr. Butzer was named director of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine’s Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, which also was created in 2014.
“These partnerships ensure that we continue to provide superior rehabilitative care and pave the way for educating and training future rehabilitation doctors and other professionals,” Butzer said.
