Cleveland Clinic, Select Medical Form Joint Venture To Expand Inpatient Rehab

Cleveland Clinic and Select Medical have finalized an agreement to form a joint venture to enhance inpatient rehabilitation services in Northeast Ohio and improve access for patients with complex rehab needs.

As part of the joint venture, the two organizations will expand these services on Cleveland’s West Side by building a new 60-bed adult inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Avon, Ohio. The two organizations have also entered into a management agreement, effective Aug. 1, to enhance operations in existing Cleveland Clinic rehabilitation facilities.

As currently planned, the West Side rehabilitation hospital will be located in Avon next to Cleveland Clinic’s Avon medical campus. Construction is expected to begin this summer with the goal of opening in late 2015.

In addition, the venture will establish a residency program for physicians in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Cleveland Clinic and Select Medical also share a goal of improving patient access to the highest quality post-acute and rehabilitation programs, as well as enhancing opportunities for employees.

The agreement is expected to expand Cleveland Clinic’s post-acute care capabilities by adding to existing home care, hospice and skilled nursing facility programming. Additionally, the joint venture will be exploring further opportunities to expand services locally, nationally and internationally with the goal of continuing to improve post-acute care options more broadly for patients.

“We recognize that the best way for patients to heal and recover is to have their rehabilitation close to their family,” said Robert Wyllie, M.D., chief medical operations officer, Cleveland Clinic. “This joint venture allows us to expand our services with a national leader in post-acute rehabilitation who has a proven record of partnering with academic medical centers, like Cleveland Clinic, to take care of the sickest patients.”

Select Medical has partnered with a number of academic medical centers, including Baylor Health System in Texas, Penn State Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania and both Cedars-Sinai and UCLA Health System in California.