Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation history

1954: Doctor Kessler developed the Cineplasty procedure and prosthesis for muscular control of prosthetic arms.

1956: Establishes one of the nation’s first pre-vocational diagnostic programs to help patients return to work, school and community activities.

1964: New York World’s Fair patient outing – such activities help reinforce patients’ skills, confidence and independence.

1975: Forms New Jersey’s first residency training program in physical medicine and rehabilitation in affiliation with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

1983: Kessler is one of the first hospitals in the United States to apply technology to improve patients’ physical and cognitive skills.

1986: Opens Kessler’s first free-standing outpatient center in Union, New Jersey, expanding the hospital’s continuum of care.

1990: Receives hospital’s first Spinal Cord Injury Model System grant from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research.

2000: Awarded its first Traumatic Brain Injury Model System grant -- one of only seven centers to hold both designations.

2005: Select Medical Cofounder Rocco Ortenzio, leads groundbreaking for three-story West Orange addition.

2011: Becomes the first United States rehabilitation center in collaboration with Kessler Foundation, to apply new, innovative robotic technology (the Lokomat training system) to advance patient care.

2012: Develops residency program in neurologic physical therapy – a first in New Jersey and one of only 12 nationwide.