Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute
A Minneapolis-based rehabilitation medicine organization founded around Sister Elizabeth Kenny's movement-based approach to polio treatment and now operating within Allina Health as part of Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute is a rehabilitation-medicine organization in Minneapolis whose origins are associated with Australian nurse and therapist Sister Elizabeth Kenny. Kenny challenged the prevailing practice of immobilizing limbs affected by poliomyelitis with rigid splints and braces. Instead, her approach used heat to relax painful or spastic muscles, followed by carefully guided movement and functional retraining. The method became particularly influential in Minnesota, where Kenny arrived in 1942 and worked with physicians, nurses, hospitals, and university researchers treating people with polio. The first Minneapolis facility was established in 1942 as a Kenny clinic in the Lymanhurst Health Center on Chicago Avenue. The site initially shared space with services for children affected by rheumatic heart disease, but the growing demand from polio patients soon required expansion. Kenny selected Minneapolis because of its connections to Minneapolis General Hospital, University Hospital, and associated research facilities. The clinic attracted patients and clinical visitors from across the United States and abroad and became an important center for teaching the Kenny method. After widespread adoption of polio vaccination reduced the number of new cases during the 1950s, the institute broadened its scope. Its work expanded to include cerebral palsy, congenital conditions, neurological disabilities, injuries, and other causes of impaired mobility. In 1975, the institute moved to the Chicago Avenue and 27th Street location associated with the recently merged Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, linking it more closely with the hospital system that later became part of Allina Health. The institute's history is closely connected with Courage Center, a Minnesota organization that began in 1928 as the Minnesota Society for Crippled Children and Adults. Courage Center developed rehabilitation, education, advocacy, camps, independent-living support, and adaptive recreation for children and adults with disabilities. Its Camp Courage, established in 1955, became sufficiently prominent that the organization adopted the Courage Center name. Over time, both organizations served overlapping populations, shared professional and philanthropic relationships, and coordinated around people with brain injuries, spinal-cord injuries, and other complex rehabilitation needs. In 2013, Allina Health combined Courage Center and Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute to create the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. The resulting organization provides medical rehabilitation, therapy, physician services, mental-health and community services, independent-living support, disability advocacy, adaptive sports, and wellness programming. It serves people of different ages recovering from stroke, brain injury, spinal-cord injury, orthopedic trauma, and other disabling conditions, as well as people living with lifelong disabilities. Services are delivered through a network of locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including programs connected with Allina Health hospitals. Although the Sister Kenny name remains important to the organization's history and clinical identity, the current institutional brand is generally presented as Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. Its positioning combines hospital-based rehabilitation medicine with community participation, accessibility, adaptive recreation, and long-term independence. The organization therefore represents both a historic rehabilitation tradition and a contemporary regional healthcare and disability-services network.
History
Sister Elizabeth Kenny developed a distinctive approach to poliomyelitis rehabilitation based on heat, muscle relaxation, and active movement rather than prolonged immobilization. After establishing clinics in Australia, she traveled to the United States in 1942. Minnesota became one of the principal centers receptive to her ideas, partly because of its medical institutions and research infrastructure. The original Minneapolis Kenny clinic opened that year at the Lymanhurst Health Center on Chicago Avenue and 18th Street. It initially shared its premises with services for children with rheumatic-heart disease, but polio demand quickly displaced those services. The Minneapolis institute became a teaching and treatment center. Kenny worked with doctors and nurses associated with University Hospital and Minneapolis General Hospital, and her methods influenced the emerging field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Miland Knapp was director of training when the institute opened and later directed physical medicine and rehabilitation from 1948 to 1964. He also served as medical director of Courage Center from 1957 to 1975, illustrating the professional links between the two organizations. The Sister Kenny Foundation was established in 1943 to support Kenny's work and clinics using her methods. Funding came from national and local philanthropy, including the March of Dimes, United Way, private organizations, and public fundraising drives. A national campaign launched in 1945 sought to support additional facilities and nurse training. The organization later experienced a serious fundraising controversy. In 1960, Minnesota authorities examined a mail campaign that had raised approximately $20 million from 1952 through 1959. Investigators reported that the fundraising company retained approximately $11 million in fees and identified alleged kickbacks to the institute's executive director. Marvin L. Kline, a former Minneapolis mayor, and others were convicted of fraud-related offenses. Kline was also convicted in 1961 for falsifying records to increase his salary. The introduction of effective polio vaccines in the mid-1950s changed the institute's mission. Rather than focusing primarily on acute poliomyelitis, it expanded into rehabilitation for cerebral palsy, congenital disabilities, accidents, neurological conditions, and other physical impairments. In 1975, the institute moved into the Abbott-Northwestern Hospital complex, strengthening its connection to mainstream hospital-based care. Courage Center developed through a parallel history. Its predecessor, the Minnesota Society for Crippled Children and Adults, was founded in 1928 and became associated with Easter Seals campaigns. It organized camps and services for children with speech, cardiac, orthopedic, and neurological conditions. Camp Courage opened in 1955 after demand outgrew earlier summer programs, and its popularity helped establish the Courage Center identity. Courage North opened near Itasca State Park in 1971, while a year-round Golden Valley facility was established in 1973. The organization later added adaptive sports, outdoor recreation, disability advocacy, and independent-living services. The two organizations increasingly served the same families and worked with many of the same funders and community partners. Their overlap was especially visible in care pathways for people with brain injuries and spinal-cord injuries, who might receive acute or hospital-based treatment through Sister Kenny and continue rehabilitation and community reintegration through Courage Center. Changes in managed care and healthcare delivery further encouraged coordination. Allina Health formally combined the organizations in 2013, creating Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute. The current institute operates as an Allina Health rehabilitation service network. Its activities include physician and therapy services, neurological and physical rehabilitation, disability support, adaptive sports, driver evaluation, wellness, mental-health support, and public advocacy. The organization serves clients across the lifespan and maintains multiple locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The Sister Kenny name survives as a historical and clinical identity within the broader Courage Kenny institution.
- 2017
Golden Valley wellness center is rebuilt
[1]A capital campaign supports a larger fitness and wellness center serving rehabilitation and neurorecovery participants.
- 2013
Courage Center and Sister Kenny merge
[1]Allina Health combines the two organizations to create Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.
- 1975
Sister Kenny moves into Abbott-Northwestern
[1]The institute relocates to the Abbott-Northwestern Hospital complex and becomes more closely integrated with hospital-based rehabilitation.
- 1973
Golden Valley facility is established
[1]Courage Center establishes a major year-round rehabilitation and administrative facility in Golden Valley.
- 1971
Courage North opens
[1]Courage Center expands its camp and outdoor programming with a facility near Itasca State Park.
- 1960
Minnesota investigates fundraising practices
[1]State investigators examine the Sister Kenny organization's mail fundraising campaign, leading to fraud convictions.
- 1955
Camp Courage opens
[1]A new camp in Wright County expands therapeutic and recreational opportunities for children with disabilities.
- 1943
Sister Kenny Foundation is established
[1]The foundation is created to support Kenny's work and related clinics in the United States.
- 1942
Minneapolis Sister Kenny clinic opens
[1]Sister Elizabeth Kenny establishes the first United States facility associated with her treatment approach in Minneapolis.
- 1928
Predecessor of Courage Center is founded
[1]The Minnesota Society for Crippled Children and Adults, later known as Courage Center, begins serving children and adults with disabilities.
Products and positioning
A regional, nonprofit rehabilitation and disability-services organization combining specialist medical rehabilitation with therapy, community participation, adaptive recreation, independent living, and advocacy.
Healthcare service
Medical rehabilitation
Physician-led rehabilitation and therapy for people recovering from stroke, brain injury, spinal-cord injury, serious accidents, and other disabling conditions. Services may include physical, occupational, and speech therapy, functional retraining, mobility support, and coordinated care delivered through Allina Health facilities and community locations.
Community service
Independent living and disability services
Programs designed to help people with disabilities participate more fully in home, work, education, and community life. The offering includes support services, accessibility-oriented assistance, advocacy, and evaluations such as testing for older drivers.
Adaptive recreation
Adaptive sports and recreation
Recreation and competitive sports adapted for people with physical disabilities. Historical and current activities have included wheelchair basketball, adaptive skiing, sailing, swimming, track and field, kayaking, cycling, archery, and other outdoor programs, supporting fitness, confidence, and community participation.
Rehabilitation and wellness · 2017
Neurorecovery and wellness
Fitness, wellness, and neurorecovery programming for people living with neurological injury or disability. The Golden Valley center has been associated with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network and provides a setting for continued functional training beyond acute rehabilitation.
Controversies
1960
Sister Kenny fundraising scandal
A Minnesota investigation found that a mail fundraising operation associated with the organization had retained a very large share of donations as fees and involved alleged kickbacks to an executive. Former executive director Marvin L. Kline and others were convicted on fraud-related charges; Kline separately received a grand-larceny conviction in 1961 for falsifying documents to increase his salary.
Marketing campaigns
- 2017Golden Valley wellness-center capital campaign
Minnesota
Courage Center supporters funded reconstruction and expansion of the Golden Valley fitness and wellness center.
Outcome. The rebuilt center increased capacity for wellness and neurorecovery programming.
- 1945National Sister Kenny fundraising drive
United States
A national campaign sought to fund additional clinics and nurse training in the Kenny treatment approach.
Outcome. The campaign contributed to the expansion and public visibility of Sister Kenny rehabilitation programs, although later fundraising practices became the subject of investigation.
Brand decisions
2013
Creation of Courage Kenny Rehabilitation InstituteM&ABackground
Sister Kenny and Courage Center had overlapping patients, professional relationships, community programs, and funding networks.
Action taken
Allina Health merged the two organizations into Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.
Aftermath
The combined institute united hospital-based rehabilitation with community disability services, adaptive recreation, advocacy, and independent-living programs.
1975
Integration with Abbott-Northwestern HospitalStrategyBackground
The institute needed to operate within an increasingly integrated healthcare environment and had developed a long relationship with hospital-based rehabilitation.
Action taken
Sister Kenny relocated to the Chicago Avenue and 27th Street site associated with Abbott-Northwestern Hospital.
Aftermath
The move strengthened connections between specialty rehabilitation, acute hospital care, and physical-medicine services.
1950
Shift from polio treatment to broad rehabilitationStrategyBackground
Polio vaccination reduced the number of new cases, while demand continued for rehabilitation after congenital conditions, cerebral palsy, accidents, and other disabling illnesses.
Action taken
The institute broadened its clinical mission beyond poliomyelitis to rehabilitation medicine more generally.
Aftermath
The expanded mission allowed the organization to remain relevant as polio became less prevalent and laid the foundation for its modern rehabilitation scope.
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