In the 1950s, MetroHealth led the nation in research and
treatment of the paralyzing disorder known as polio. In 1954,
the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis designated City
Hospital as a National Respiratory Care Center, the third
largest of 13 polio centers in the country. At the peak of the
polio epidemic, 32 iron lungs were in operation, helping
patients to survive. And, the physicians at City Hospital were
among the first in the nation to prescribe physical therapy for
polio patients to help maintain movement and muscle tone and aid
in the recovery of paralyzed limbs. How appropriate that decades
later, MetroHealth still continues to pave the way for forward-
thinking rehabilitaion treatments. MetroHealth is partnered with
Case Western Reserve University and the Stokes Veterans
Administration Medical Center in the Cleveland FES Center, where
pioneering research in FES is receiving international attention.
FES technology is used to help paralyzed patients move their
arms and hands, walk, regain bl