Tuesday, July 12, 2016
HealthSouth Corporation announced plans to develop a comprehensive physical rehabilitation hospital in Shelby County. The hospital will provide physical rehabilitation to patients who have experienced stroke, trauma, brain and orthopedic injuries or other major illnesses or injuries. The hospital will be located just north of the northeast corner of I-65 and Hwy 52 and will include 34 all-private rooms, a spacious, on-site therapy gym and cutting-edge rehabilitative technologies.
"We are privileged to serve patients in our home state of Alabama for many years at our six other hospitals throughout the state and look forward to offering high-quality services closer to home for Shelby County residents," said Linda Wilder, president of HealthSouth's southeast region. "Currently, Shelby County residents have limited access to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, which requires patients and their families to travel to Jefferson County for treatment. This new hospital will ensure that residents have appropriate and reasonable access to the latest rehabilitative treatment and technology in a hospital setting. We thank the many supporters who worked so hard to make these services more accessible to those who need them."
The development of the hospital is expected to result in an investment of approximately $25 million in the community and, once fully operational, to generate approximately 85 new, full-time jobs. Wilder said that the approval process for the Shelby County hospital took HealthSouth over six years, which forced many patients in need of inpatient rehabilitative services to go without those services longer than necessary. However, the State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) recently reissued two certificates of need (CON) to allow HealthSouth to build the new facility.
"With strong support from residents, County Manager Alex Dudchock and James Dedes with the Shelby County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, the Shelby County Commission, as well as many others, HealthSouth is now able to bring this state-of-the-art hospital to Shelby County," said Wilder, "We are very pleased that we can now move forward to provide these much needed services to the Shelby County community. We also thank SHPDA and the Certificate of Need Review Board for their assistance throughout the duration of this process."
The new hospital is expected to open in the first half of 2018.
HealthSouth currently operates 121 inpatient rehabilitation hospitals nationwide, six of which are located in Alabama.
Source : healthsouth.mediaroom.com
