Tacoma’s new physical rehab hospital unlike any other in the region

The first thing that strikes you on entering the new CHI Franciscan Rehabilitation Hospital is that it doesn't look like a hospital.

The design is intended to offer a home setting more than an institution. There's even a room for patients headed out of the hospital to spend the night and experience a studio apartment, complete with a washer-dryer setup and kitchen.

Last summer, CHI Franciscan Health and Kindred Healthcare broke ground on the $25 million rehabilitation hospital, the first of its kind for the region, at 815 S. Vassault St.

"With these 60 beds, we will change lives in this community," said Robert Dickens, the hospital's CEO. "There is simply nothing like this facility in the Puget Sound region."

On Tuesday, the health systems celebrated the site with a ribbon cutting and tours of the 60,000-square-foot facility for employees, dignitaries and media. The site will open for medical care later this month.

Patients who've suffered brain trauma, stroke or brain injuries are among those to benefit from the inpatient hospital, according to the health systems' leaders.

"Unfortunately, stroke and trauma can happen anywhere and a lot of people want to come back home to their community for treatment, so we'll be bringing back folks who were in other locations," Jason Zachariah, president of Kindred Rehabilitation Services, told The News Tribune after the ribbon cutting.

"When you go up the I-5 corridor ... we're the only freestanding inpatient rehab hospital like this," said Ketul Patel, CEO of CHI Franciscan Health. "This is going to be busy on Day 1, absolutely."

The hospital initially will employ about 130 full-time employees and eventually have more than 200 workers, including part-time and temporary staffing, Zachariah said.

Treatment will focus on making sure nothing goes unchallenged in a patient's recovery, and that the patient can function as independently as possible. Most details from the real world are closely replicated. One rehab room on display had a contemporary shower and tub, side by side, so a patient can choose one to match what's awaiting back home.

The courtyard comes with what looks like a miniature golf course and tiny driving range, to help patients work on coordination and balance. A raised, waist-high flower bed will allow patients to do a bit of gardening while working on fine motor skills and take in a bit of nature.

The courtyard also includes ramps and different types of pavement, from smooth to bumpy and even gravel, so patients can try out their mobility skills, assisted or unassisted, on surfaces they'll encounter outside of therapy.

The main rehabilitation room on the ground level includes an array of machines, benches and low-tech pegboards and pins. On the higher end, there's an exoskeletal robotic frame that patients can be strapped into to help with walking, as well as a small car parked inside the center so people can learn to get in and out with ease.

The hospital will start with patients in the CHI-Franciscan network and then eventually treat patients from the region. For the level of acute care demand, 60 beds might be just a start, and the site has room to eventually expand.

For perspective, the rehabilitation department at St. Joseph Medical Center saw more than 600 patients in its inpatient rehabilitation unit just in 2016.

"Obviously we look at patient capacity and what the true need is in the community," Patel said. "If there's an opportunity to continue to partner with Kindred, we're always going to try to do that."

This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Tacoma’s new physical rehab hospital unlike any other in the region."