Michael Sullivan believes a $2 million gift recently awarded to Massachusetts General Hospital’s physical and occupational therapy services department will bring rehabilitation care to new heights.
Dr. Sullivan, the department’s director and a 2002 Doctor of Physical Therapy graduate, has been named the inaugural recipient of the MGH Trustees Endowed Chair in Physical and Occupational Therapy. The gift, through which the chair is funded, will allow staff to pursue educational and research opportunities to advance their skills and contribute to evidence-based practice, ultimately improving patient care.
“It’s a real challenge for our PTs and OTs to engage in scholarly work or practice innovation given the daily demands of patient care,” says Sullivan, who also is an assistant professor of physical therapy at the IHP. “This grant will provide ways for our staff to grow professionally by creating previously unavailable opportunities.”
He envisions the funding as a way of advancing evidence-based care and the exemplary level of clinical practice he has championed and for which he has been recognized. “We invest heavily in our staff so that their practice impacts patients in a meaningful way,” he said. “This gift certainly will help those efforts.”
Sullivan says the endowment also could further enhance MGH’s collaboration with the PT and OT programs at the Institute, his department’s primary academic partner. “It’s something that’s been on our collective radar for some time,” he says, “so I’m hopeful we can put something together that mutually benefits Mass General and the Institute.”