Posted on January 8, 2018
Mary Free Bed, GVSU announce expanded partnership
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Leaders from Grand Valley State University and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital are expanding their partnership, which will strengthen the region’s health care talent pipeline and serve the needs of rehabilitation patients.
The two organizations have a long history of collaboration. Mary Free Bed serves as a clinical site for Grand Valley nursing, therapy and non-clinical students with annual in-kind instruction time topping $1 million. Mary Free Bed has also contributed to Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall, Grand Valley’s new health sciences building.
The two organizations now share a Motion Analysis Lab, located in Grand Valley’s Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences in downtown Grand Rapids. Mary Free Bed specialists conduct sophisticated studies of patient walking patterns and serve as preceptors to Grand Valley students and graduate fellows.
Grand Valley President Thomas J. Haas said strengthening the existing partnership with Mary Free Bed continues the university’s commitment to providing relevant and timely learning opportunities for students.
“We’re so very pleased that our colleagues at Mary Free Bed want to bring the great work from their own Motion Analysis Lab to our facility and work alongside our students and faculty members,” Haas said.
“This aligns with Grand Valley’s strategic plan to produce graduates who are ready for the workforce and meets employer demands for trained health care workers.”
Mary Free Bed CEO Kent Riddle echoes the benefits of collaboration. “Teaching the next generation of medical professionals is one of the factors that makes a hospital excel,” Riddle said. “And our patients are well-served by the Grand Valley grads that we hire.”
About Mary Free Bed
Mary Free Bed is a not-for-profit, nationally accredited, rehabilitation hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. For more than 125 years, Mary Free Bed has restored hope and freedom through rehabilitation for children and adults who have experienced brain injuries, strokes, spinal cord injuries, multiple traumas, amputations, cancer and other diagnoses. The combination of 110-plus specialized medical and sports rehabilitation programs and an exclusive focus on rehabilitation enables our specialty physicians and staff to help patients achieve extraordinary clinical results. For additional information, visit maryfreebed.com
About Grand Valley State University
Grand Valley State University, one of the 100 largest universities in the nation, attracts more than 25,000 students with high-quality programs and state-of-the-art facilities. Grand Valley is a comprehensive university serving students from all 83 Michigan counties and dozens of other states and foreign countries. Grand Valley offers 88 undergraduate and 38 graduate degree programs from campuses in Allendale, Grand Rapids and Holland, and from centers in Muskegon, Traverse City and Detroit. The university is dedicated to individual student achievement, going beyond the traditional classroom experience, with research opportunities and business partnerships.
