Fort Smith facility to focus on rehab

FORT SMITH -- Construction of a new rehabilitation hospital -- which will be next door to the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine -- is underway in Fort Smith.

Mercy Fort Smith is partnering with Kindred Healthcare, based in Louisville, Ky., to build the 52,967-square-foot Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Fort Smith at 6700 Chad Colley Blvd. The Arkansas Colleges of Health Education donated the land for the hospital.

The hospital will serve as a teaching site for students in the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education's School of Occupational Therapy and School of Physical Therapy, Juli Stec, Mercy Fort Smith vice president of operations, said in a news release.

The project represents Kindred and Mercy's fourth joint venture.

"Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Fort Smith is designed to help patients recover from their illnesses or injuries and restore function, so they can get back to their lives," Russ Bailey, chief operating officer of Kindred Rehabilitation Hospitals, said in a news release. "Kindred and Mercy have a strong track record of success, having partnered on similar rehab hospitals in Oklahoma City, St. Louis and Springfield, Mo."

The new 40-bed hospital will care for adults recovering from a variety of conditions, according to Mercy Fort Smith. This includes stroke, neurological disease, injury to the brain or spinal cord and other debilitating illnesses or injuries.

The facility will feature all private rooms; a secured brain injury unit with private dining and a therapy gym; large interdisciplinary gyms; a transitional living apartment designed to simulate a residential apartment; a therapeutic courtyard with golf, pickleball and cornhole; specially designed rooms to treat dialysis patients; and specialty programs dedicated to neuro, stroke, brain injury and amputation.

Mercy currently operates an inpatient rehabilitation facility within Mercy Hospital Fort Smith at 7301 Rogers Ave.

The new hospital has a "hard construction cost" of about $21 million and officials say it is scheduled to open in April 2021, with Kindred Healthcare to manage it.

State Desk on 02/17/2020

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