Gaylord Hospital President, CEO Named a "Health Care Hero"

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare announced that President and CEO George Kyriacou, MSPH, was recently named as a winner of the 2018 Hartford Business Journal Health Care Hero Award in the category of Corporate Achievement–Innovation. He will be recognized at the Health Care Heroes event on December 6 at the Hartford Marriott.

Kyriacou, a West Hartford resident, has been at the helm of Gaylord Hospital for nearly 8 years and is responsible, colleagues say, for ushering in one of the most innovative and dynamic eras seen in the hospital’s more than 115 years of existence.

As Kyriacou prepares for his planned retirement at the end of December, the hospital lauds a remarkable legacy of accomplishments that cumulatively have galvanized Gaylord’s financial viability, its reputation for exceptional quality care and its limitless potential.

Gaylord Board Chair Robert Lyons explained that within months of Kyriacou’s arrival in 2011, the new CEO was able to “quickly bolster Gaylord’s financial health, enabling the hospital to reinvest in its employees and in the cutting-edge technologies that set Gaylord apart.”

Kyriacou has been a major proponent of pioneering technologies that enhance the rehab process and bolster patient outcomes and recovery times including the Ekso Bionics wearable exoskeletons for the treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries and strokes, the ReWalk Exoskeleton, BITS technology and AlterG anti-gravity treadmills for body-weight-supported rehabilitation.

Kyriacou and his team are tuned into their patients’ special needs, including updated telemetry throughout the hospital, the creation of an Adolescent Spinal Cord Injury Unit with attached family suites and the opening of a Complex Stroke Unit dedicated to the unique medical needs of the hospital’s most complex and medically fragile stroke patients.

In recent years, he has championed the successful opening of a new Gaylord Physical Therapy, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine satellite office in Cheshire in 2016 to further expand Gaylord’s outpatient therapy reach. Both the new Cheshire office and existing North Haven outpatient office have gone through several rounds of expansion in order to meet patient demand.

In response to a steadily increasing stream of out-of-state and out-of-country patients, Kyriacou led the charge to build on-campus accommodations to help family members stay nearby while their loved one recovers. He recognizes the vital role that family plays in helping patients heal from a life-altering illness or accident and the need to make a stress-filled situation for those traveling long distances to give their loved ones the best care less taxing. “The Cottages at Gaylord”, a one-story building comprised of four family suites, are slated to open November, 2018.

Kyriacou has led the hospital to achieve outstanding clinical outcomes based on evidence-based practices. His commitment to quality has led the hospital to become the only facility in the state – and only one of several facilities worldwide – to achieve four highly respected CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accreditations for in-patient rehabilitation, spinal cord, stroke and brain injury specialty programs.

He is well-known by his colleagues for having deliberately cultivated a culture of excellence among the staff who work directly under him to make sure that it trickles down to every single Gaylord employee.

Kyriacou has also taken a national leadership role in a consortium of 21 long-term care hospitals across the country. He has spearheaded a years-long landmark study demonstrating the important role that long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) such as Gaylord play in helping acutely ill patients reach higher levels of functional recovery. Armed with that data, he works diligently to present the facts to government and the public to demonstrate the value of LTCHs in creating exceptional outcomes.

Gaylord Board Chair Robert Lyons said, “To say that George will be leaving a positive, indelible legacy at Gaylord is an understatement.”

Despite his retirement at the end of December, Kyriacou will continue at Gaylord in a part-time, consultative capacity to continue his work on outcomes, strategy and his advocacy on behalf of the long-term care hospital industry.

Kyriacou looks back on his own Gaylord legacy with immense pride. “I am fortunate to have been a first-hand witness to Gaylord’s life-changing and compassionate care. I consider this role to have been the most rewarding I have held in my entire career. I can say with confidence that there is absolutely no limit to Gaylord’s potential.”

About Gaylord Specialty Healthcare:

Gaylord Specialty Healthcare, headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut is a not-for profit long-term 137 bed specialty hospital that provides care and treatment of people with complex medical and intensive rehabilitation issues. Gaylord also operates outpatient therapy centers in Wallingford, North Haven, and Cheshire. For latest news or more information go to their website at www.gaylord.org.

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