BJC HealthCare and Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC) plan to build a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation hospital in West County as a joint venture.
The organizations said last week that they've been awarded the required certificate of need by the state to build the facility, which will be located at the corner of Town and Country Crossing Drive and Woods Mill Road in Town and Country.
The facility is expected to begin accepting patients in 2024, officials said. When the new facility opens, BJC plans to relocate its existing 20-bed rehab unit there from Missouri Baptist Medical Center.
The new rehab hospital is expected to employ between 80 and 110 full-time workers, according to a spokeswoman. Employees currently working at the Missouri Baptist Medical Center rehab unit that will be relocated will be given the opportunity to apply for another role within BJC HealthCare or become employees of the joint venture and transfer once the new hospital opens to patients in 2024, she said.
BJC purchased two parcels for the new facility at 998 and 1002 Woods Mill Road in Town and Country, according to the spokeswoman, who did not reveal the purchase price. The 1002 Woods Mill Road parcel was owned by the city of Town and Country, according to county records. The 998 Woods Mill property holds the former location of a Wellbridge Athletic Club & Spa and was purchased in December for $3.5 million, according to a posting by Hilliker Corp., which listed the property for the seller. It had been owned by Jaccard Woods Mill LLC, an entity whose registered agent is Arthur Loomstein, according to state records.
Excluding land, construction costs for the new rehab hospital are about $30 million, the spokeswoman said.
Impact Strategies Inc. of Fairview Heights is the project's construction manager, with Gresham Smith as its architect and Stock & Associates Consulting Engineers Inc. as civil engineer.
The new facility will offer physical, occupational and speech therapies and 24-hour nursing care to patients recovering from illnesses and injuries including strokes, brain or spinal cord injuries, amputations, and complex orthopedic conditions, officials said. All 40 inpatient rooms will be private and the facility will feature a therapy gym with rehabilitation technologies, an "activities of daily living" suite, as well as a cafeteria, dining room, pharmacy and therapy courtyard.
The new hospital will be a satellite location of the joint venture's existing The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis, located at 4455 Duncan Ave. in Midtown. The BJC joint venture with Birmingham, Alabama-based Encompass also includes The Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis locate in St. Peters and The Rehabilitation Institute of Southern Illinois in Shiloh.
"Encompass Health and BJC HealthCare have been trusted healthcare partners for more than 20 years, and we are excited to expand our presence to serve even more residents of St. Louis County," Troy DeDecker, president of Encompass Health's central region, said in a statement.
"Our goal is to minimize time spent in the hospital so our patients can safely return to their daily lives as soon as possible," Joan Magruder, group president for BJC HealthCare, stated. "Increasing access to rehabilitation services makes it easier for more patients to safely transition from the hospital to the next stage of their healing process and still receive the expertise and compassion of BJC HealthCare. "This new hospital will allow us to continue providing high-quality, clinical care for rehabilitation patients throughout Missouri and Southern Illinois."
BJC HealthCare is one of the nation's largest nonprofit health systems, with net revenue of $5.5 billion. It primarily serves the greater St. Louis, southern Illinois and southeast Missouri regions, operating 15 hospitals and other health service organizations.
Encompass Heath says it is the nation's largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals, with a national footprint including 150 hospitals in 35 states and Puerto Rico.