SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Photo by Steve Wewerka
Photo by Steve Wewerka
Left to right: Patricia Stewart, DO; Jackie Kawiecki, MD; and Bonnie Warhol, MD
There is no “typical†day at Courage Center for staff physicians Patricia Stewart, Bonnie Warhol, and medical director Jackie Kawiecki. On a daily basis, they help fulfill Courage Center’s mission of helping people improve their quality of life by turning abilities and disabilities into possibilities.
“We help patients move toward maximum function and/or adapt to altered function,†explains Dr. Stewart. “This could be something that can be seemingly straight forward, such as working with patients with back pain, to something as complex as working with patients who have experienced a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury, where not only mobility is affected, but perhaps the ability to speak, swallow, or process information.â€
These three dedicated women are Courage Center physiatrists, or rehabilitation physicians. They focus on empowering people to reach their full potential through increased function. As doctors they differ from other specialists in that they take a more holistic view of the patient.
“It really is an under-utilized specialty,†says Dr. Warhol. “We help get people back to living and back to their communities.â€
Courage Center, a nonprofit rehabilitation provider, serves people of all ages with brain and spinal cord injuries, neurological conditions, chronic pain, and congenital disabilities.
This team of experts cares for outpatients in Courage Center’s clinic, sees patients within the transitional rehabilitation in-patient program, works closely with therapists, does patient evaluations, provides medication assistance, and consults with patients’ primary physicians.
The advantages to working as a multidisciplinary rehab team, says Dr. Kawiecki, include maintaining client-centered care and “offering the expertise to achieve clinical outcomes that will maximize a person’s function and independence.â€
The doctors say the keys to succeeding in any environment–whether working as a team or solo–are following your heart, thinking outside the box, being committed to lifelong learning, building on strengths, and giving to others.
“We consider it a privilege and an honor to do the work we do,†Dr. Warhol says.
Courage Center
3915 Golden Valley Rd.
Minneapolis, MN 55422
763-520-0453
www.courage.org
