Ashlar Rehabilitation Program Names

Joel Feigenson As Its Medical Director

Joel S. Feigenson, MD, has been named medical director for the short-term skilled nursing and rehabilitation program at Ashlar of Newtown. Ashlar of Newtown is comprised of a 156-bed skilled nursing facility and Lockwood Lodge, a 54-unit assisted living community in Newtown.

Dr Feigenson, a noted neurologist and rehabilitation physician based in Fairfield County, is affiliated with St Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport where he serves as the medical director of the center’s rehabilitation unit and medical director of rehabilitation services. He is also a physician with Associated Neurologists of Southern Connecticut, a private practice of neurology and neurorehabilitation with two offices in Fairfield County.

In his role at Ashlar of Newtown, Dr Feigenson will oversee the facility’s short-term rehabilitation program, a subacute, 34-bed unit within the JCAHO-accredited skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility. The specialized, family-oriented program offers comprehensive interdisciplinary care for adults who require physical, occupational, or speech therapy following surgery, accident, or serious illness. The program’s goal is to return patients to their homes as quickly as possible by providing the treatment, motivation, and supportive environment needed to recover the strength and function they may have lost.

Dr Feigenson will focus on rehabilitation programming, the preadmission and discharge processes, attend patient care conferences, meet with patients and their families and staff, provide in-service education to staff members, and serve as a liaison with community physicians.

In making the announcement of Dr Feigenson’s appointment, Ashlar of Newtown president Thomas Gutner said: “Dr Feigenson is a well-respected physician with an extensive and impressive background in both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation. We are pleased to have him share with us his exceptional clinical expertise and experience as we continue to expand and improve our program to meet the rehabilitation needs of adults in our area.”

Dr Feigenson, a resident of Fairfield, received a BS degree with honors from Columbia College and an MD from New York University Medical Center. He is board certified and also a member of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation and a fellow of the American Heart Association.

He is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology, National Heart Association, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and numerous medical societies, including Connecticut Medical Society, Fairfield County Medical Society, Connecticut State Neurology Society, and Fairfield County Neurology Society. He has also served on the editorial boards of several journals and continues to review prepublication manuscripts.

Dr Feigenson has been an assistant professor with New York University Medical Center’s Department of Neurology and the Department of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center.

Dr Feigenson has authored and co-authored numerous clinical papers on neurological topics such as stroke, stroke rehabilitation, and Parkinson’s disease. He has been a frequent speaker on stroke rehabilitation and other topics at medical conferences, as well as a guest lecturer at many US medical schools and hospitals. In addition, Dr Feigenson has participated in a number of clinical research studies.

Ashlar of Newtown, at 139 Toddy Hill Road, is an affiliate of Masonicare, Connecticut’s leading not-for-profit provider of senior healthcare and retirement living. Other Masonicare affiliates include Ashlar Village and Masonic Healthcare Center of Wallingford, and Connecticut VNA and The Masonic Charity Foundation of Connecticut, which are statewide.