Burke Rehabilitation Hospital Announces 2024 Burke Award Dinner Honorees

The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital is proud to announce the Burke Award Dinner to be held on Thursday, June 6th, 2024, at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY. This year’s theme, "Healing Power of the Arts," highlights the transformative impact of the arts in rehabilitation and recovery. The distinguished honorees for this year are celebrated local abstract artist Aimee Hofmann and MedRhythms, Inc., the innovative providers behind Burke’s Neurologic Music Therapy program.

The Burke Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Board of Trustees of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, is awarded annually to individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to the field of rehabilitation. These contributions may be through personal achievements, the development of research, or the establishment of programs and facilities that assist individuals with disabilities. It celebrates not only the overcoming of physical challenges but also the contributions to the understanding and treatment of physical disabilities.

Aimee Hofmann's unique abstract art has inspired many with its vibrancy and depth, symbolizing the resilience and strength found in the journey of recovery. Aimee’s impactful artwork adorns the walls throughout Burke Rehabilitation’s buildings. MedRhythms, Inc. has been a pioneer in integrating music therapy into neurological rehabilitation, demonstrating the profound effects of music on the brain's healing process. Since 2021 MedRhythms has been the sole provider of Neurologic Music Therapy at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital.

The Burke Award Dinner serves as the premier fundraising event for Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, with proceeds directly supporting the hospital’s exceptional rehabilitative care services and the Healing Power of the Arts fund. This fund is instrumental in incorporating art into rehabilitation, providing patients with innovative therapeutic options that harness creativity and expression as pathways to healing.

"Your generous support of the 2024 Burke Award Dinner makes a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of patients we serve each year," said Liz Walsh, Director of Development at Burke Rehabilitation. "We invite the community to join us in celebrating the remarkable achievements of our honorees and the healing power of the arts." More information about the event can be found here: https://www.burke.org/giving/events/burke-award/

About Burke Rehabilitation 

Burke Rehabilitation is a nationally recognized and accredited not-for-profit healthcare organization that provides leading physical rehabilitation treatment, research and graduate medical education. Burke offers a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services to improve the quality of life for people following an injury or surgery and those managing symptoms from chronic conditions. Ranked as a top rehabilitation hospital by US News & World Report, Burke Rehabilitation has the lowest hospital readmission rates in the country and is the largest provider of stroke rehabilitation in New York. In addition to its hospital in White Plains, NY, Burke has 13 outpatient locations in the Bronx, Westchester County, and the Hudson Valley, with additional sites planned. Burke is a proud member of the Montefiore Health System. For more information, please visit www.burke.org.

About Aimee Hofmann

Aimee Hofmann is a Westchester-based abstract artist and disability advocate. At 30, she suffered from the neurological condition, Transverse Myelitis, an inflammation in the spinal cord that caused complete paralysis from level T10 of the spine. After learning she would never walk again, art gave her peace during the difficult stages of loss, grief, self-reflection and re-discovery. Art helped her emotionally heal, as well as find joy again.

Throughout the years that followed, while facing a new life with a disability, she created a number of collections. Her works featured landscapes, abstract florals and swirl patterns, which have continued to evolve into deeper abstract work. Her most recent collections express a newfound freedom that embraces the beauty of imperfections, renewal/rebirth and nostalgia as well as using symbolisms of one's unique life journey.

In addition to individual collectors and Burke Rehabilitation, Hofmann’s work is part of corporate collections at Amazon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., HSBC, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Intuit, State Street Bank, Ipsen, BrownAdvisory and Vigil Neuroscience. She has also shown at local and regional arts centers and has been a guest speaker at the Harvard Business School.

Hofmann lives in Westchester with her husband and two children. She is a two-time hand-cyclist marathoner, avid swimmer, fundraiser, and guest speaker. As a disabilities advocate, her goal is to continue to create awareness about inclusion and fair representation for people with disabilities.

About MedRhythms

MedRhythms, Inc. has been the leading provider of Neurologic Music Therapy in the nation since 2013. It exists to restore the lives and quality of life of loved ones with neurologic impairments.

MedRhythms focuses on the intersection between music, neuroscience, and technology, providing interventions to achieve optimum outcomes in sensorimotor, speech & language, and cognitive goals in patients.

Since 2021, MedRhythms has been the sole provider of Neurologic Music Therapy at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital. To date, Burke’s inpatient NMT program has treated over 600 patients, and in a survey of over 100 patients, 95% of those believed that NMT contributed to their recovery process.

The NMT program truly aligns with the vision of Burke to lead the field as the most effective and compassionate provider of medical rehabilitation by practicing innovative treatment, pioneering clinical research and inspiring education.

In 2023, this innovative therapy program was expanded to Burke’s outpatient department for a continuum of care. Neurologic Music Therapy is a fully donor-funded program and has increased patient outcomes and improved quality of life for countless patients at Burke.