Oregon Health Authority approves new 'state-of-the-art' rehab hospital in Springfield
PeaceHealth has been given the go-ahead from the Oregon Health Authority to construct a new "state-of-the-art" inpatient rehab in Springfield.
PeaceHealth and Lifepoint Rehabilitation, the entities expected to work collaboratively on the new center, announced Thursday that they have received regulatory approval, through a certificate of need with the Oregon Health Authority, to construct a 67,000-square-foot inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
The hospital would be its own standalone building with 42 inpatient beds and additional space for future expansion and be built next to the PeaceHealth RiverBend Annex, which is located at 123 International Way in Springfield. A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility is planned for October 2024, with an official opening scheduled for January 2026.
“We are very excited to bring new and expanded inpatient rehabilitation services to Lane County,” said Alicia Beymer, chief administrative officer at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. “Our current rehabilitation unit inside RiverBend is rated one of the best on the West Coast and this new standalone facility will take that already outstanding care to another level.”
The new facility plans to feature the region’s first brain injury unit and increase patient capacity over PeaceHealth and Lifepoint Rehabilitation’s current 27-bed unit at RiverBend.
“We are pleased to see this project move forward with the approval of the Oregon Health Authority,” said David Stark, chief operating officer at Lifepoint Rehabilitation. “This is further confirmation of the community need for increased access to specialized rehabilitation care, and we look forward to beginning construction in partnership with PeaceHealth. We know that expanding capacity for inpatient rehabilitation care is vital to our mission of making communities healthier, and we look forward to the day we welcome patients to this new hospital.”
The hospital plans to offer intensive nursing, physical, occupational and speech pathology services for adults recovering from conditions such as stroke, neurological disease, brain or spinal cord injury. Lifepoint Rehabilitation will manage the day-to-day operations of the facility.
The new facility will expand therapies and upgrade equipment such as a mock apartment, a car for practice, a kitchen for cooking, exoskeleton equipment and an outdoor therapy area.
This approval comes four months after the closure of PeaceHealth's sole inpatient rehabilitation unit at the former PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center University District. For two weeks, it was the only service still in operation after the rest of the hospital's closure until it too moved operations to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center Riverbend, located at 3333 Riverbend Drive in Springfield.
Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: PeaceHealth rehab hospital in Springfield gets OHA approval
