The Cleveland Clinic and Select Medical, a provider of specialized acute and post-acute care in the United States, have entered into a joint venture agreement that includes building a 60-bed adult inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Avon, Ohio, and improving existing rehab services in northeast Ohio. A Cleveland.com news report indicates that the hospital, which will be named the Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation Hospital, will open in late 2015 and will sit northwest of the clinic’s Richard E. Jacobs Health Center.
According to the Cleveland.com news report, the joint venture means improvements to existing clinic rehabilitation facilities and post-acute care, including home care and skilled nursing, when a management agreement between the two systems takes effect. The Cleveland Clinic presently operates rehabilitation units with a total of 97 inpatient beds at the hospital’s main campus. A residency program, which each year will admit two physicians in physical medicine and rehabilitation, will be gin in 2016.
Frederick Frost, MD, chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation and executive director of Cleveland Clinic Rehabilitation and Sports Therapy, says the hospital has been years in the making. Frost states, “When you’re able to build a rehab facility from scratch, it gives you enormous flexibility. It has a whole different milieu, from the position of therapy rooms to the arrangement of equipment that help maximize efficiency.”
The Cleveland Clinic and Select Medical are negotiating to lease 12 acres at Avon Place, and the first phase of the rehab-hospital project would use approximately 7.5 of the 12 acres, leaving room for future expansion.
Frost declares that the Cleveland Clinic-Select Medical partnership goes beyond the physical structures. Select Medical operates or supports more than 100 hospitals specializing in long-term acute care, 15 medical rehabilitation hospitals, and more than 1,000 outpatient clinics offering physical and occupational therapy, according to the Cleveland.com news report.
Frost says, “This is going to help us improve access for patients in Cleveland. This brings in the capabilities of one of the best national providers.”
Source: Cleveland.com
