Students build therapeutic car for St. Peter's Hospital patients

Students from the Auto Body Repair and Welding & Metal Fabrication programs at the Albany campus of the Career & Technical School built a therapeutic car body for physical therapy and rehabilitation patients at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany. The car will be used by patients recovering from hip fractures, knee and hip replacements, stroke and general debilitation.

The students took measurements at St. Peter's to insure the car body would fit into corridors and elevators. The Auto Body class split up, outfitted and painted the front part of a scrapped Chevrolet Cavalier to make it possible for rehabilitation patients to enter and leave the passenger's side. The Welding students designed and fabricated a stand to place the car at normal height; they cut, welded and bolted schedule 40 steel pipe to form the sturdy frame.

Students working on the project included Welding students Andrei Squires of Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake and Chris Baakman of Schoharie and Auto Body students Dan Ebert of Schoharie and Jim Bobar of Rotterdam.

Besides applying their technical and academic skills, all of the students learned about project development, teamwork and time management.

Maureen VanBenthuysen, St. Peter's Hospital Director of Rehabilitation Services, said, "We deeply appreciate the work done by the school to help our patients make a speedy recovery by giving them a car to practice in. Patients need to travel for rehabilitation, for doctors' appointments and getting back to their normal daily activities."

The students participated in a June 3, 2002 media conference with St. Peter's staff and patients and were featured on Fox 23 News, Albany, that night.

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