As a manufacturer of rehabilitation equipment, there are few things we find more rewarding than witnessing the positive difference our products can make to people’s lives. This is why the story of Chattanooga’s latest Center of Excellence is so inspiring.
A Chattanooga Center of Excellence (CoE) is a facility recognized for its contribution to the improvement of patient rehabilitation. Recognition can be earned on the basis of clinical practice, educational initiatives or expertise, or clinical research in the fields of sport rehabilitation and orthopaedics, pain management, neurology, or long-term care. All Chattanooga Centers of Excellence have expertise in one or more Chattanooga physical medicine modalities or technologies.
Our latest CoE is Spain’s DACER clinic. Based in Madrid, DACER is a rehabilitation center specializing in the treatment of adults and children with neurological injuries. Using products supplied by Enovis Spain, it helps its patients to make what many people might consider to be small steps, but which they experience as massive gains.
One such patient is Lucas de Ulucia. In 2019, Lucas’s professional motorcycle racing career was tragically cut short when an accident left him quadriplegic. Though he was informed by doctors at Spain’s leading neurology clinic that progress was unlikely, Lucas refused to accept their prognosis, and instead turned to DACER for help.
Two years later, thanks to intensive daily training supported by DACER’s dedicated team of professionals and Chattanooga rehab products, Lucas has regained a significant amount of mobility and greatly improved his quality of life.
No head injury is too severe to despair of, nor too trivial to ignore.
Quote by Hippocrates, seen on the wall of DACER center
Standing quietly in the background of this story is Xavier Cardona, General Manager of Enovis Spain. Xavi’s relationship with DACER goes back more than a decade to when he introduced its clinicians to VitalStim for dysphagia. Since then, the clinic’s portfolio of Chattanooga products and associated expertise has grown to the point that it has achieved the status of Chattanooga Center of Excellence. The center now acts as a key opinion leader in its field, educating physical therapists from around Spain and Latin America, as well as providing a practical training environment for Chattanooga products.
When Xavi visited DACER last month to present them with their certificate, he was met with an award of his own in recognition of the support he has provided them over the years. It’s clear to see the admiration both parties have for one another, as well as the dedication they share for improving the lives of patients through rehabilitation.
And while both awards were gratefully received, it’s safe to say neither are as rewarding for their recipients as the satisfaction of seeing patients like Lucas reclaiming their freedom through movement.
