Petra Kempa has been appointed Vice President of Marketing at The Specialty Hospital of Washington (SHW) Kempa formerly served as the Senior Director of Business of Development at Select Specialty Medical Corporation (Savannah, GA). She was responsible for managing patient census levels at hospitals in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Kempa earned her B.S. in Respiratory Therapy and M.S. in Health Services Administration from Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA. She has extensive experience in respiratory care and management, and has earned numerous accreditations in health care specialties including pulmonary function, respiratory care and perinatal/pediatric care.

Kempa, will be responsible for the development of patient referral programs and systems between The Specialty Hospital of Washington and other hospitals both nationally and internationally. She will be headquartered at The Specialty Hospital of Washington's Capitol Hill location.

The Specialty Hospital of Washington is the largest provider of high acuity long-term critical care services in Washington, D.C. with two locations, SHW-Capitol Hill (700 Constitution Ave., NW) and SHW-Hadley (4601 Martin Luther King Ave., SE.) Most SHW patients arrive with complex medical conditions that require a high level of care on a long-term basis following discharge from Short Term Acute Care hospitals. SHW-Capitol Hill has recently earned the "Gold Standard" of hospital accreditation from The Joint Commission; and it is earning accolades in the medical field for achievements in respiratory therapy.

SHW is owned by Specialty Hospitals of America, LLC, which recently acquired Greater Southeast Community Hospital (1310 Southern Ave., SE) in a transaction that included financial consideration by city government.

Both SHW hospitals also house a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) or "nursing home." Additional information on the services provided by SHW is available at www.shwdc.com.