Media Day, Public Open House Precede Patient Admissions
BRIDGETON, MO – A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, January 6, will mark the grand opening of the 60-bed SSM Rehabilitation Hospital on the campus of SSM DePaul Health Center.
The facility will be available for media tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, January 6. Public visitors will be welcomed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 7. Patient admissions will begin on Tuesday, January 10.
SSM Rehabilitation Hospital expands the number of general rehabilitation beds available locally and will become a regional referral center for patients with brain and spinal cord injuries, said Doug Brewer, president & chief executive officer of SSM Rehabilitation Network.
“There is a growing need for rehabilitation services,” he said. “Many acute care hospital patients still require sophisticated care before they are ready to go home. We are able to provide this care in a setting that is typically 30 percent lower in cost while providing needed therapy and training that gives patients a considerably better chance of staying out of the hospital once they go home.”
Patients seeking rehabilitation services have grown due to improvements in trauma and stroke care, Brewer said. “People who had potentially fatal injuries ten years ago are now surviving because they are using seat belts and because our emergency services give them immediate access to trauma centers and stroke centers of excellence.”
SSM Rehabilitation Hospital services are designed for patients who require assistance in regaining life skills and independence, said Chris Gonzalez, director of rehabilitation. “We’re here for people who have had an illness or injury that prevents them from doing things they need to do, whether it is walking and dressing themselves or thinking clearly so they can process their day. One area that differentiates us is our care of people with a dual diagnosis, such as spinal cord and brain injuries. Many times when there are traumatic injuries, especially in car accidents, both of those injuries occur.”
The three-story, 66,914-square-foot SSM Rehabilitation Hospital is located at 12380 DePaul Drive at the confluence of Interstate 70, Interstate 270 and St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton, Missouri.
The facility’s innovative design reflects the specialized needs of patients, families and clinicians and creates an environment that supports healing and recovery. Our clinical staff provides comprehensive inpatient medical rehabilitation care to patients with stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, neurological and orthopedic conditions. Our rehabilitation services also include the SSM Day Institute, a specialized outpatient rehabilitation program for individuals who are recovering from a traumatic injury or illness but who no longer require 24-hour nursing or acute rehabilitation care.
SSM Rehabilitation Hospital is operated by SSM-Select Rehab LLC, a joint venture of SSM Health Care - St. Louis and Select Medical Corporation. The brain injury rehabilitation program will be relocated from SSM St. Mary's Health Center in Richmond Heights, Mo., to the new site while continuing to operate general inpatient rehabilitation programs at both SSM-St. Mary’s Health Center and SSM St. Joseph Health Center.
“We will open with approximately150 employees and plan to employ 250 people when we reach full occupancy,” Brewer said.
The new hospital is expected to bring additional employment benefits to the city of Bridgeton, said Mayor Conrad Bowers. “DePaul is our largest employer and they continue to improve the campus. New employees often will live in the area. They shop here and have lunch here, so there are employment spinoffs. This is another milestone that is great for the area and great for the community.”
The SSM Rehabilitation network provides various levels of rehabilitative care at over 50 locations throughout the St. Louis market while employing almost 1,000 people. In addition to the new hospital, they operate the SSM Day Institute (four locations), SSM Physical Therapy (32 locations), SSM Homeward Bound (11 locations), SSM WorkHealth (three locations). The network also provides therapists to SSM Home Care. The staff provides acute hospital therapy services for patients in all five SSM Health Care-St. Louis adult acute-care hospitals -- DePaul Health Center, St. Clare Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center-Wentzville, St. Joseph Hospital West and St. Mary’s Health Center.
The joint venture between SSM Health Care-St. Louis and Select Medical Corporation provides the clinical staff with additional access to peers at the New Jersey-based Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which is consistently rated as one of the top providers of rehabilitation care throughout the nation.
“Many of our clinicians have trained at Kessler and Kessler experts visit use here in St. Louis,” Brewer said. “We have access to their phenomenal treatment programs and protocols. We are in touch with them on a daily basis. That is invaluable as we continue our focus on providing the best quality of rehabilitation services in the area.”
The Partners
SSM Health Care – St. Louis serves the comprehensive health needs of St. Louis-area residents through a network that includes seven hospitals, nearly 12,000 employees and 2,500 staff physicians. Key service lines include heart, cancer, neurosciences, pediatrics, weight loss, sleep, imaging, behavioral health and orthopedics.
About Select Medical Corporation
Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Select Medical Corporation is one of the nation’s leading providers of specialized health care encompassing long-term acute care, inpatient medical rehabilitation, outpatient physical rehabilitation and contract therapy. The company has 21,000 employees and operates hospitals and outpatient clinics in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Select Medical also owns the prestigious Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which is recognized as one of America’s best rehabilitation hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.
For media inquires only, contact:
Thomas Gregory
(314) 753-9050
ignatius1556@sbcglobal.net