KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A brand new rehabilitation hospital will be built in Knoxville, part of a partnership between Tennova Healthcare, The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) and Kindred Healthcare, according to a press release.
The 57-bed in patient facility, which will be called Knoxville Rehabilitation Hospital, will be built on land owned by Tennova near the corner of Middlebrook Pike and Old Weisgarber Road in Knoxville.
Kindred will manage the day-to-day operations of the new hospital, which officials hope will open in early 2021.
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It will provide care for patients from 11 counties who are recovering from a traumatic medical situation, like a stroke, serious spinal cord and brain injury, neurologic illness, major multiple trauma, and orthopedic conditions. It's focus will mostly be on seniors, but the hospital will be equipped to also serve younger patients who suffer from traumatic incidents.
“This will truly be a joint effort, relying equally on the expertise and talent of our three organizations,” said Joe Landsman, president and chief executive officer of UTMC. “We’re very excited to be working together with other reputable healthcare partners in our region—and at the national level—to do what’s best for our community’s healthcare needs.”
Tennova, UTMC and Kindred are jointly filing a Certificate of Need application with the Health Services and Development Agency (HSDA) of the State of Tennessee, according to a press release, which seeks to relocate 57 licensed inpatient rehabilitation beds from Tennova hospitals to the new inpatient rehabilitation facility.
Tennova recently closed two hospitals, Physicians Regional in North Knoxville and Lakeway Medical Center in Morristown, which has had an impact on available patient beds and emergency rooms in other Knoxville hospitals.
The officials behind the partnership believe this will help reduce part of that problem.
“By virtue of our strategic alliance and joint venture arrangement, this project will promote easy access, cost-effectiveness, and reduce the unnecessary duplication of healthcare services,” said Tony Benton, chief executive officer of Tennova Healthcare – East Tennessee Market. “In fact, transferring appropriate patients to an inpatient rehabilitation facility like Knoxville Rehabilitation Hospital has the potential to reduce acute care length of stay and the need to construct additional acute care beds.”
Tennova has been providing inpatient rehabilitation services for more than three decades.
“Over the years, we have helped improve the lives of thousands of patients who have experienced strokes, brain injuries, neuropathy and myopathy diseases, spinal cord injuries, multiple trauma, and other complex medical and physical disabilities. The relocation and consolidation of Tennova’s inpatient rehabilitation beds is vital to meeting the rehabilitation needs of a medically underserved patient population in the community,” said Benton.
The plans for the building itself calls for a two-story, 68,000-square-foot standalone hospital with private rooms and private bathrooms for patients. There will also be designated wings on the second floor of the building for stroke and traumatic brain injury patients.
The main therapy suite on the first floor will include a gym, rooms for multiple therapy protocols, private therapy rooms, cooking therapy room, and an “Activities of Daily Living” therapy suite. Additional therapy rooms are located on the second floor for convenient access to therapy for the entire patient population, according to the release.
It's a design that Kindred Healthcare rehabilitation hospitals follow around the country.
“Kindred's experience operating inpatient rehabilitation hospitals will complement the highly regarded patient care services that Tennova and UTMC currently provide, resulting in a collaboration that will improve health outcomes, inpatient rehabilitation access and clinical integration,” said Jason Zachariah, president of Kindred Rehabilitation Services, a division of Kindred Healthcare. “We are pleased to work with two premier healthcare providers in the East Tennessee Region to offer quality, post-acute care resources for the benefit of the community.”
Benton also said that the hospital will begin the development of the Tennova Health Park in west Knoxville.He said, "it will be a true asset for this community."