History
Sargent traces its roots back to 1917, when 25 pioneering women opened the Providence School of Lipreading. It incorporated as the Providence League for the Hard of Hearing and later became the first rehabilitation technology program offering assistive listening devices. It remained committed to improving the lives of those with hearing disabilities well into the 1950s. Today the organization's incorporated name is Sargent Rehabilitation Center, and it is commonly known as The Sargent Center.
By the 1960s, the center was offering speech pathology services and developed the first outpatient clinic for adult stroke victims. In 1969, spearheaded by past CEO Marilyn Serra, and her colleagues in medicine and rehabilitation, Sargent opened a language and speech preschool center. By 1975 the organization had expanded its capacity to serve older children within a comprehensive Day School Program.
Throughout its history, Sargent Center has been a pioneer in rehabilitative care. It developed the first aural rehabilitation program for the elderly and the first occupational health and safety industrial audiology program. The traumatic brain injury program was started in 1986 and the adolescent brain injury unit was added in 1988.
In 1997, Sargent moved to its current 3-acre campus at 800 Quaker Lane in Warwick, RI. In 2017 Sargent celebrated 100 years of providing comprehensive services to disabled children, young adults, and their families.
Today
For more than 100 years, we have been a leader in the education and rehabilitation industry, restoring cognitive and physical function to children and young adults resulting in exceptional outcomes, concentrating operations in the areas of Day School Programs for students with disabilities (pre-school, elementary, secondary, and transitional living-community vocational training with high school diploma, as well as a post-secondary prep program) Neuro-Rehabilitation (brain injury, concussion, stroke, injury), and the Regional Resource Center (Professional Training, Public Policy Institute, Family Education & Advocacy.)
Our expertise has recently expanded to include behavioral health and mental health for school aged students. Our short-term step-down services include a comprehensive, coordinated transitioning of care from the inpatient setting before returning or re-entering the school community. Other programs provide longer stay placements for diagnostic evaluation, or classroom alternatives from a public-school setting.
All of our education programs provide coordinated comprehensive care addressing cognitive, physical, medical and behavioral rehabilitation in order to achieve outcomes that result in the advancement to community learning, living, employment, and productivity.
Our mission is supported by the work at the Regional Resource Center (RRC), which first opened its doors in 2012, and was designed as the first statewide comprehensive resource program for professionals to convene and exchange knowledge. The RRC excels by offering members with customized technical assistance contracts, conferencing, consultation, and professional development.