VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley and Stephanie Sulmer

Sheltering Arms Hospital and VCU Health System announced Wednesday that the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Marissa Levine, has approved Sheltering Arms Rehab Institute’s application for a certificate of public need to build a new 114-bed rehabilitation hospital through the relocation of inpatient rehabilitation beds from VCU Health System, Sheltering Arms Hospital in Hanover and Sheltering Arms Hospital in Midlothian.

The joint venture combines inpatient beds from both organizations to create a multimillion dollar state-of-the-art destination hospital focused on caring for individuals who have survived strokes, spinal cord injuries or brain injuries, as well as those in need of general rehabilitation or various neurological diseases and disorders. Sheltering Arms Rehab Institute will be located on a 25-acre site in the West Creek Medical Park off Broad Street Road, just east of the state Route 288 interchange.

“In the new hospital, we’re bringing together advanced technology, research, and evidenced-based clinical care, in a spacious, green setting that will facilitate our joint goal of enhanced outcomes for our patients,” said Mary Zweifel, CEO of Sheltering Arms.

VCU Health System and Sheltering Arms Hospital are the oversight and decision-making body of the Sheltering Arms Rehab Institute’s board of managers. This leadership group’s next steps will be to review and approve design and operational plans for a proposed fall 2020 opening.

Bringing together the brand and clinical reputation of Sheltering Arms and the nationally-ranked programs of the VCU Health System will make physical rehabilitative care in Virginia among the nation’s best.

“This joint venture will simultaneously advance research and clinical training to provide unparalleled quality of care for rehabilitation hospital patients,” said Deborah Davis, CEO of VCU Hospitals and Clinics.

Sheltering Arms has two hospitals and 11 outpatient centers, as well as community-based programs that include recreational therapy and fitness. VCU Health System treats patients at several area locations, including its facilities at the VCU Medical Center in downtown Richmond, at Stony Point and at the VCU Sports Medicine Clinic adjacent to the Siegel Center. All outpatient services will operate separately for now and into the foreseeable future.

 

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