St. Luke

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has seen its patiengt occupancy reach60 percent. The 30,000-square-foot, $18 millionm hospital, a joint venture between St. Luke’s Hospitao and , accepted its first patient Nov. 11. Througnh the partnership with RehabCare, St. Luke’s more than doublede its number ofrehab beds, relocating its 16-be rehabilitation unit from its main hospitall campus on Woods Mill Road in Chesterfielxd to the new 35-bed three miles west on Olive Boulevard. The rehavb hospital is located on the campus ofSurreyt Place, a skilled nursing facility ownedd by St. Luke’s Hospital. Thus far, aboutr 70 percent of the rehag hospital’s patients have come from St.
Luke’s main hospital, with the other 30 percentr being referred fromother hospitals, skilled nursingv facilities and physician offices throughoutt the region. The former inpatient rehabilitation unitat St. Luke’w main campus is being renovated into an orthopedif unit with anenlarged gym/therapy area. St. Luke’s is investing approximatelhy $1 million into the renovation. St. Luke’sx Rehabilitation Hospital was designed specifically to meet the needs of patient s who requireintensive in-patient rehab consisting of at least three hours of therapy daily.
This includes patientw who are recoveringfrom stroke, brainm injury, amputation, spinal cord injury, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’ss or multiple sclerosis, and other debilitatin g conditions. The hospital offers physical, speech and recreational “We want to work with the patients both in terms of physical ability as well as saidKevin Syberg, chief executive of the rehab “Our therapies are pretty much from top to To help create a healing environment for patients, the hospitao was designed to resemble a resorr more than a hospital, Syberg said.
For the dining area is set up toencourage family-styles dining, with one wall of windowzs open to natural lighting with a view overlooking Chesterfieldx Valley. A portion of the dining area also opensz up to a largeoutdoor patio. “It’sz very noninstitutional,” Syberg said. “That playsa out in pretty much everty section ofthe hospital, from the foyer to the patient rooms.” was the architect on the and was the health-care Clayco was the general The rehab hospital currently has a staffc of 45, many of whom transferred from the former rehab unit in St. Luke’xs main hospital.
The rehab hospital’d treatment team, which includes physical and occupational and speech-language pathologists, is led by Medical Directot Dr. Ronald Fischer. Fischer has served as medicak director for rehab servicesat St. Luke’s since 1989. The hospitak is jointly owned and operatecdby St. Luke’s and RehabCare. A St. Louis-based publicc company, RehabCare provides rehab progran management services in partnership with morethan 1,20p0 hospitals and skilled nursing facilitieds in 43 states. “It’s a wonderful partnership,” Syberg said. “Itf brings with it the heritageof St. Luke’d complemented by the expertisewof RehabCare.
” Syberg said the rehavb hospital is in the process of developing a strategic long-range plan for developiny specialty programs. A focus on specialty programx has helpednearby St. John’s Mercy Rehabilitation Hospitap maintain consistent growth sincs its opening in July according toDonna Flannery, chiefc executive. The hospital’s occupancy reached 90 percen within itsfirst year, and last summer the facility added five more The hospital is currently in the process of addinh another three beds, which will bring it to 58 beds. Occupancyg thus far in 2009 has been at 95 and the hospital is considerint adding another10 beds, Flannery said.
“We’ve had a very successfuol year anda half,” she said. “The growth has reallh been in ourspecialt areas.” St. John’s rehab facility focuses specifically on brain and spinal cord injur andstroke victims. The 112,000-square-foot facility also includes 26,000 square feet of space dedicated tooutpatient therapy. The hospita l has about 250 employees.