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Staff photo / Brandon Cantwell Eksobionics representative Jessica Winkowski accompanies Jim Gratton in a demonstration of the company’s exoskeleton, which provides advanced rehabilitation therapy to people recovering from stroke or spinal cord injury.

LIBERTY – A commitment to provide specialized, intensive care to people in the Mahoning Valley who need it to return to function after a major injury or surgery.

That’s because the new Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital on Belmont Avenue will start seeing patients Monday.

On Thursday, Mercy Health-Youngstown and its partner, Tennessee-based Lifepoint Rehabilitation, cut a ribbon to mark the ceremonial opening of their new joint-venture rehabilitation hospital.

The 60,000-square-foot, two-story facility features 60 beds, all private rooms, and a 12-bed secure brain injury unit with private dining and a therapy gym. There are additional multidisciplinary therapy schools equipped with the latest therapeutic technologies, courtyards and a small apartment with a simulated kitchen and bathroom.

John Luellen, market president of Mercy Health Youngstown and Lorain, explained before the ceremony that the facility has been talked about for years after the need in the area was recognized.

“As the health care needs of the Mahoning Valley continue to evolve, we felt it was very important that we strategically evolve with those needs,” said Luellen. “Years ago we looked at health care trends in the Mahoning Valley and realized there were unmet needs. One of those unmet needs was expanding acute inpatient rehabilitation capacity.”

Luellen said the hospital will serve some of the people who have experienced trauma or other challenges that warrant care but cannot be delivered at home and should not be delivered to an acute care hospital.

The facility will maintain a home-like atmosphere while meeting the clinical needs of patients, he added.

“What’s great about this facility is that people can be cared for in an environment that is much closer to home than the hospital environment, where you have the opportunity to do those activities of daily living as part of the rehabilitation,” said Luellen. “We have a cafeteria that feels much more like someone’s dining room feels like home.”

Patients will come from all over, Luellen said, but there are already enough patients in St. Elizabeth Youngstown to keep the facility busy.

Lifepoint Rehabilitation oversees a network of rehabilitation hospitals nationwide and more than 300 hospital rehabilitation units. This marks the 46th inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

Dave Stark, Lifepoint’s vice president of operations, said the facility is an accumulation of feedback they’ve gathered from their other hospitals, sensing the needs of their partners as they normally do.

“During the hospital design phase, we do different things, usually different adjustments based on the patient population here in Youngstown and based on what our partner does – Mercy Health, in this case,” Stark said. “If they have certain programs or certain care that they provide or that they specialize in, we would like to adapt the hospital to serve that population as well.”

Lifepoint is also involved in the adjacent department, a 72-bed behavioral hospital next to the rehabilitation center. Construction is expected to be completed next year.

Liberty Township officials attended the ribbon cutting and then toured the facility.

Trustee Arnie Clebone said the facility is a “important milestone” for the community, noting its potential to increase commerce in the area and positively contribute to the tax base.

“The ground was empty for a long time. It wasn’t really attractive, and now it’s going to be a really nice space.” said Cleborne. “I’m hopeful that more business and other sites that are underutilized or not as well used will be found that will be even better.”

“This facility serves as a model for what we can achieve in Liberty Township and demonstrates our commitment to quality development,” he added.

NEUROLOGICAL CARE

Luellen said the opening of the facility allowed Mercy Health to make room in St. Elizabeth Youngstown for a new neuroscience intensive care unit, for which the department has already committed $20 million in investments.

Considered a primary stroke center for many years, St. Elizabeth has improved the level of stroke care the facilities can provide, Luellen said.

The facility became a so-called Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center, an intermediate level of accreditation introduced in 2018 for hospitals where acute ischemic stroke patients receive care.

Luellen said they plan to achieve the highest level of certification, a Comprehensive Stroke Center, which will allow them to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.

The unit can accept any type of patient who has suffered neurological trauma.

“To do that, we need to increase the level of service we provide. One of the ways we are expanding that service is by providing a dedicated neuroscience intensive care unit because that building is so full.” said Luellen. “One of the things we had to do was find a space to do that, and these two projects fit so well together because we serve the same patient population.”