“Every day I work with patients and families who tell me they’ve learned more in our 30 minutes together than in an entire week in the hospital. That broke my heart — and built RehabNav Consultants.”
Darlene Yasharian, OTR/L, MBA | Founder & CEO, RehabNav Consultants
I grew up on a 1,000-acre beef farm in rural upstate New York — the middle child in a family of seven children, raised by a farmer and a social worker who taught me two things early: work hard, and take care of people.
That foundation has never left me.
After playing college softball in Florida, I earned my Occupational Therapy degree from Florida International University and started my career working with children and young adults with disabilities. From 2004-2010, I worked as a travel Occupational Therapist, working across the United States — New York, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Georgia, Florida, and Pennsylvania, then heading overseas, where I served as Director of Education at the Dubai Autism Center from 2010-2011. I earned my MBA in Healthcare Administration in December 2010.
When I returned to the U.S. in 2011, I shifted into adult rehabilitation full time and never looked back. I’ve managed rehab departments where we were treating 100+ patients per day, managed 8 rehab departments across three states as a Regional Therapy Director, spent 6 years in the Medicare denials and appeals world — presenting at more than 200 Administrative Law Judge hearings with a greater than 92% win rate — and I currently practice daily in the acute hospital setting, specializing in intensive and critical care. I also served as a U.S. Army Reserve medic from 1995 to 2003.
Every day, patients and families tell me: “I’ve learned more from you in 30 minutes than in the entire week we’ve been here.”
That sentence — repeated by hundreds of families — is why RehabNav Consultants exists. The knowledge I’ve spent 30 years building shouldn’t stay locked inside hospital walls. It belongs to every family who needs it.
Credentials
- OTR/L — Licensed & Registered Occupational Therapist since 2002
- MBA, Healthcare Administration — University of Phoenix, 2010
- U.S. Army Reserve Medic, 1995–2003
- 200+ Medicare ALJ Hearings | >92% Win Rate
- Former Regional Therapy Director (3 states)
- Former Director of Rehabilitation in 300+ bed facilities
- Former Director of Education, Dubai Autism Center
- Current Practice: Acute care, ICU/critical care, Med Surgery, Emergency Medicine
Ready to work together?
Book a private consultation: https://calendly.com/rehabnav-info/60minconsultation