Rehabilitation

AS A STRUCTURE, the Avenue Market inside the shell of the old Lafayette Market sparkles after a thorough $4 million redesign and rehabilitation. It is airy, attractive and clean.Despite a ribbon-cutting last weekend, the market is still largely vacant. This is not good -- even though construction delays are understandable. Many of the 40 stall operators are first-time business people and now miss the benefits of the traditionally busy Christmas and Kwanzaa shopping rush.In spite of tens of millions of dollars spent on urban renewal since 1967, revitalization of Upton has been elusive.

Integrated Health Services Inc. of Owings Mills said yesterday that it will take over the long-term rehabilitation services of NovaCare Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa., for an undisclosed amount.The sale comes in spite of industry concerns about the profitability of long-term physical and occupational rehabilitation, a sector of the health care business that has been squeezed by Medicare cutbacks."Although there's been a dramatic reduction in revenues and earnings in contract rehabilitation businesses throughout the country, we believe it is still a viable business," said Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of IHS.IHS is betting that by becoming a bigger player in contract rehabilitation, it will develop enough of a market presence to make money.

A popped ACL starts the athlete on a rough road back to competition. And surgery, athletes will tell you, is not the most difficult part.What's hard begins during several weeks of physical therapy before surgery, simply to prepare the leg for the operation. Plus, you're on crutches to help cope with a bulky, stabilizing brace.The operation itself takes only about two hours in normal cases, after which you go home. Then, the going gets tough -- both physically and mentally.Rehabilitation requires as long as six months, and sometimes more.

The shoulder injury that has sidelined Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is as individual as it is commonplace. That's why no one knows for sure whether he'll need season-ending surgery and the months of rehabilitation such an operation would bring - a possibility coach Brian Billick acknowledged this week. "You just don't know. Each case is different," said Dr. Edward McFarland, director of the division of sports medicine and shoulder injury at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "The critical things are really how many things are torn up. The other critical factor is he's in a very high-demand sport that puts a lot of stress on your shoulder."

He is not yet officially a Raven, although free agent tight end Eric Green sure feels like one.For the past four months, Green has been rehabilitating his left knee under the watchful eyes of Ravens trainer Bill Tessendorf. The Ravens provided Green's arthroscopic surgery in January. They are pleased with his weight loss and the soundness of his knee. They are determined to suit him up for the entire 1997 season.The only step left for Green and the Ravens is agreeing to a contract, something they have been discussing off and on for weeks.

Patricia Litchfield put off knee replacement surgery for years because she feared she would lose her independence. "I heard so many stories about people who couldn't bend down after surgery," said Litchfield, 72. "I couldn't see how I would be able to live without doing my household chores." The retired school worker's concerns were eased last week when she finally had knee surgery at St. Agnes HealthCare and began physical therapy at its new Independence Square rehabilitation community - the first of its kind in Maryland.

Six weeks after a near-fatal jolt from a downed power line cost him his right hand, 9-year-old Isiah Moore has started over at Johns Hopkins Hospital, learning to print his name with his left hand and tossing paper footballs into a bedpan. In seven operations since the June 11 incident, Isiah's right arm has been removed, and skin has been grafted to his forehead because of the severe burns he suffered, said his grandfather, Stanley Grebos. Relatives - who say Isiah has remained bedridden - add that he remains in good spirits, and still talks about a football career.

The metal behemoths, each as heavy as 25 elephants and strong enough to pound steel tubes 90 feet into the ground, have hovered over the gateway to Maryland's capital for 10 months, their long necks almost as familiar a sight to commuters as the State House dome. Annapolis has a reputation for quaintness, but with two of its bridges undergoing serious rehabilitation, the Colonial town has grown used to having cranes fill its skyline. Roaring jackhammers and orange traffic barriers round out the construction milieu.

A Business Digest item in yesterday's editions of The Sun misstated the business relationship of two Ellicott City facilities involved in an alliance. Constellation Senior Services Inc. operates Heartlands Senior Living Village. St. Agnes HealthCare operates St. Agnes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is adjacent to the Heartlands campus. Under the agreement, St. Agnes will provide health services such as rehabilitation and respiratory therapy for Heartlands residents.The Sun regrets the error.

In a recognition that get-tough prison policies have failed to prevent repeat offenders, the Ehrlich administration announced yesterday a shift toward rehabilitation, proposing programs to educate inmates and improve their behavior. But with the state facing a revenue shortfall, all but $2 million of the annual cost would be financed by juggling the correctional payroll over the next three years - filling an expected 218 correctional officer vacancies with 210 teachers, counselors and social workers, a tactic that also would avoid layoffs.