BAKERSFIELD, Calif., April 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS), a premier provider of treatment for traumatic and acquired brain injury, announced that David Harrington, president and CEO of CNS, appeared as a featured guest on the Brain to Brain podcast, hosted by Evan Folan. The episode is available here: Brain to Brain. It was released as part of Brain Injury Awareness Month and explores what sets CNS’s rehabilitation model apart: the neuroscience behind long-term recovery, the systemic barriers survivors face in accessing care and why recovery from brain injury has no expiration date.
David Harrington, president and CEO of Centre of Neuro Skills (left) and Evan Folan,
producer of Brain to Brain podcast (right), during podcast session recording
Brain to Brain is a podcast dedicated to amplifying voices from the brain injury community including survivors, caregivers and providers. Folan, a CNS alumnus, former news anchor and sales executive, was introduced to podcasting as a therapeutic assignment during his own rehabilitation at CNS. The episode marks a full-circle moment: the program that helped Folan reclaim his voice is now the subject of the platform that voice built.
ADDRESSING A NATIONAL ACCESS CRISIS
Harrington speaks plainly in the episode about the barriers brain injury survivors face reaching the level of care they need. The stakes could not be higher:
- Using Center for Disease Control and Prevention data, USAFacts.org cites traumatic brain injury as a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, accounting for an estimated 30% of all injury-related deaths.
- Brain injury is one of the most prevalent and underrecognized public health crises in the United States. An estimated 2.8 million Americans or one person every nine seconds sustains a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually according to the Brain Injury Association of America.
- Also, according to the Brain Injury Association of America, more than 5.3 million Americans are living with a long-term TBI-related disability, roughly one in every 60 people in the country.
Despite this scale, post-acute residential rehabilitation remains largely unavailable to most survivors due to gaps in insurance coverage and limited public awareness of what recovery can look like. Podcasts such as Brain to Brain are playing an increasingly important role in closing that information gap by connecting survivors, caregivers and their loved ones with expert voices and peer communities.
A LEADER WHOSE PATH IS PERSONAL
Harrington has spent 27 years in brain injury rehabilitation, beginning as a 20-year-old direct care staff member at CNS before becoming an occupational therapist and eventually president and CEO. In the episode, he describes the encounter with a patient that changed his life. He accompanied a recovering logging worker named Dale back to his family in the Pacific Northwest and witnessed the moment Dale was greeted not as a patient, but as a father, husband and grandfather.
Harrington also speaks candidly about his own experience navigating the healthcare system after his mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma and his uncle sustained a stroke and TBI. These experiences reinforced his commitment to making CNS a source of light for families facing what he describes as “a catastrophic path.”
“We want to be that light for people who are walking blindly down this path. That’s what brings me life,” said David Harrington, president and CEO of Centre for Neuro Skills. “Success is a person leaving CNS with purpose, meaning and a goal to achieve. Understanding that the injury does not define them.”
Harrington describes CNS’s “healing and recovery ecosystem” approach that is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary model encompassing physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, recreational therapy, counseling, education, fitness, nursing, case management and physician services.
PATIENTS DON’T PLATEAU. PROGRAMS DO.
Among this Brain to Brain episode’s most resonant themes is CNS’s rejection of the conventional view that brain injury recovery stalls after a fixed period. Harrington cites the neuroscience of the brain’s ongoing capacity to form new synaptic connections, generate new neurons and develop new blood vessels. This is the foundation for CNS’s philosophy that it is never too late to pursue rehabilitation.
“Patients don’t plateau. Programs do. The brain won’t stop connecting as long as you provide the right challenge,” said Harrington.
CNS has admitted patients two or more years after their injury who had been considered to have reached their recovery ceiling. Many have gone on to return to work and reclaim their lives. The organization tracks patient outcomes for 10 years post-discharge to confirm the durability of recovery gains.
“I built this podcast and a company, and that’s a testament to how powerful the treatment is that CNS provides,” said Evan Folan, host of the Brain to Brain podcast and a CNS alumnus. “Every therapist and employee at CNS shows up every day with the enthusiasm that survivors need to be encouraged and challenged to make a difference in how they’re recovering.”
About Brain to Brain
Brain to Brain is a podcast dedicated to brain injury awareness, recovery and community. Hosted by Evan Folan who is a brain injury survivor, author and former news anchor. The show features leading voices in medicine and advocacy. The podcast began with a therapeutic assignment given to Folan during his rehabilitation at Centre for Neuro Skills. New episodes are available on all major podcast platforms. To listen to the episode featuring David Harrington, visit YouTube.
About Centre for Neuro Skills
Centre for Neuro Skills is an experienced and respected world leader in providing intensive rehabilitation and medical programs for those recovering from all types of brain injury. Recognized as one of America’s Greatest Midsize Workplaces 2025 by Newsweek, CNS covers a full spectrum of advanced care from residential and assisted living to outpatient/day treatment. Founded by Dr. Mark Ashley in 1980, CNS has eight locations in California and Texas. For more information about Centre for Neuro Skills, visit neuroskills.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube. For a video overview of CNS, visit our YouTube channel.
Media, please note: To request an interview with David Harrington or Evan Folan, please contact Robin Carr at 415.766.0927 or [email protected].
Media Contact:
Robin Carr
Landis Communications Inc.
[email protected]
415.766.0927
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/43373264-6b03-474c-bac7-ecf4844a95bd
